In Case of a Flood
by StarvingLunatic
Summary: Sequel to Lessons in Love. Emma and Regina's relationship continues to evolve. Henry presents and it's the start of changes in their family. It could eventually lead to their downfall. SwanQueen. G!P/futa. Omegaverse. Series: part 4 of 5.
1. Drowning in Emotion

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

Public Service Announcement: this is the next installment of the _Who We Are_ series. It's still Omegaverse, starring an alpha!Emma and omega!Regina. So, there is G!P, futa, or however you refer to it in this story. There's not as much sex in this one as the previous ones, but it's there, so as usual, if any of those things aren't your thing, then this might not be the story for you.

A/N: Once again, I'd like to thank Kylie for being the beta for this. If you guys want updates for this story or any of my work, come say hi to me on Facebook.

In Case of a Flood

1: Drowning in Emotion

Emma rubbed her palms together as she stood outside Henry's closed door. There were butterflies on top of butterflies in her stomach. Henry and Regina were in there having a long talk in hushed tones. Every now and then, she could hear something, words with no real context to make sense of how things were going. She did not hear a thing to stop her heart from beating well out of her chest. Henry had presented. He was an omega. It made Emma both relieved and anxious.

"Thank god," she said under her breath for the millionth time while she was alone. She hoped she got it out of her system by the time Henry emerged, as she was not sure how he felt about being an omega.

She was relieved Henry was not an alpha. Intellectually, she knew there was nothing wrong with being an alpha. There were many great alphas from what she could tell in Storybrooke, but life had insisted otherwise for her and she could not shake that feeling. It was deeply embedded in her and she was aware of it to a degree, but felt it was true. Maybe not every alpha was bad, but being an alpha helped lean more into the asshole territory than most as far as she was concerned.

"He's not an asshole and he won't be an asshole." Emma was happy about that, but still her stomach twisted and turned.

She was anxious because, well, Henry was an omega. Now, she had a bit of a better understanding of Elle, the foster mother who threatened her alpha-hood and sent her to an alpha group home. It was scary to think Henry could end up pregnant by some idiot alpha, who would not or could not support him or was not ready to have pups, but wanted a good time. But, Henry had a good head on his shoulders and Regina was talking to him. _She'll make sure he understands how serious this all is. Regina has this_.

"Regina has this," she promised herself through clattering teeth. Saying it aloud always made things seem like they would come true.

Regina and Henry had been talking for almost an hour. Emma rubbed her palms together again, finding them very sweaty, so she rubbed them against her pants to dry them. She had been outside the door the whole time, trying to listen at some points, but also trying not to listen since the conversation seemed private. If they wanted her to hear, they would have had the discussion in the living room. Of course, Henry had barely been able to move yesterday, so Regina insisted he stay in the bed, even though he felt better while she had a talk with him.

"She's got this. Regina's got this. She's got this," Emma muttered under her breath, leaning a little closer to the door.

There was an added nervousness to Henry being an omega. He was a male omega. Society tended to be harder on male omegas, even though omegas in general were treated differently, typically worse than the other statuses. Male omegas were seen as sort of the bottom of the barrel, even now. Male features, but able to have babies and nurture them, so they were seen as unmanly. There were so many stereotypes and there would be obstacles in his way. People would assume he was weak, they would try to keep him out of so many fields, make comments about how he looked, and so many, many other things. How would they prepare him for that?

_We'll think of something and Henry's smart. I just have to have faith_. Before Emma let her thoughts run wild, the conversation stopped. Emma was not sure what that meant, but then the door opened, so she guessed everything was done. She straightened up, ready to move in case mother or son needed her. _Need me for what?_ Regina locked eyes with her as she eased through a small crack of the open door. There were no worry or concern in those honey brown eyes, but the knot in Emma's stomach remained. Regina closed the door behind her, but remained in the doorway.

"He okay?" Emma asked, her voice below a whisper. It seemed like being quiet was the thing to do, especially since Regina shut the door without a sound. Emma hoped he was all right. If he was all right, she could be all right.

"Go in and talk to him," Regina replied.

Emma blinked. "You sure?" What the hell could she, an alpha, say to their newly presented omega son? She did not want to mess up whatever progress Regina made.

Regina offered her a small smile and it stiffed her spine a little. "You'll be fine. Go talk to your son. I'm going to get dinner going. I promised to make his favorite since he's feeling better and is certain he can hold down a real meal."

Emma nodded and Regina went downstairs. Emma took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. Henry made a noise that sounded like permission to come in, but she was not sure. Still, she opened the door and found Henry sitting on his bed, holding a book. He had a quilt around him instead of his usual blanket. Knowing this family, the quilt was handmade by Regina from when Henry was little. He was literally wrapped in comfort.

Emma tilted her head a little, needing to see his face. He did not look any worse for wear. She would dare say he looked normal, as normal as one could look after going through the whole mess of presenting.

"How you doing, kid?" Emma asked as she stepped closer. The wooden floor beneath her creaked, groaned maybe. She swallowed, a hard lump in her throat and her stomach butterflies in a tizzy.

"I'm good. It's just a lot to take in, you know?" Henry replied. He sounded rather all right, though a little muted. He did not look at her and picked lint off of his quilt. Then he let out a little laugh. "I mean, for all Mom's talk, she still gave me a book to help." He held up the book and gave her a small smile.

Emma's brow furrowed, but her nerves felt more at ease. "A book?"

He nodded. "She said it helped her understand omegas better in this realm and she thought it would help me. Little does she know, her talk was more than enough."

Emma fought down a smile. Regina had been prepared enough to have a book on deck. "Oh. That's good. Besides, you know your mom likes to be over-prepared."

He gave a light chuckle and there was an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Yeah. I always figured if Mom grew up here, she'd be one of those people who burned themselves out in college because she's doing too much."

"I think her personality begs her to do the most, but at least we always get goodies out of it." Emma was not sure if Regina might not burn herself out now, but she would try to make sure Regina took time to take care of herself. _Really? Because you didn't do that here. You let her do all the talking with our kid_.

"That's true."

Emma went over to him and sat down on the bed. He moved over, as if making space for her. She put her arm around Henry. "You okay, though?"

Henry looked at her and grinned at her. His eyes sparkled more and she was able to relax more. "I'm fine. It's weird, you know? I mean, it hurt."

Emma nodded. She remembered presenting, it definitely hurt. It was like having her guts ripped out and shoved back inside. She had hidden in the basement of her foster home when it happened and cried for a day. No one really comforted her, but someone checked on her a couple of times, probably to make sure she did not die. Someone had also brought her food at one point. She could not recall who, her focus had mainly been on the extreme agony. It did not matter since barely a week after presenting she was out of there.

Henry had the benefit of supportive parents and not being afraid of being thrown out of his home. So, he had been tucked into a ball in bed for the better part of the day with them putting cold rags on his fevered forehead and kept him hydrated. He cried and groaned, tearing at his bedding sometimes, but one of them was always there to rub his back, sing childhood songs to him, or tell him stories until things got better. Regina made some of his favorite snacks, pies and cakes, to make sure he ate. There was also homemade soup, because of course Regina would make her own soup rather than opening a can.

"I know all about it hurting," Emma said.

Henry nodded. "Yeah, Mom said it didn't hurt as much for her, but according to her reading this book, it doesn't hurt as much when your body isn't physically changing like ours did."

"Yeah, and how do you feel about that? I mean…" Emma did not want to bring up her own sex status issues with Henry, did not want to add to things if he felt bad and had just put on a strong face.

Henry's mouth twisted to the side and he looked at the book, now in his lap. "I'm okay. Mom covered a lot and it's not the end of the world. I know being a male omega can be tough, but it doesn't bother me." He shrugged. "It doesn't define who I am. And I know there's stereotypes and crap, but I don't have to be like them in any way. I'm good."

Emma smiled and ruffled his hair. "You're so mature." She was happy he had no problems with his status. Even if the rest of the world gave him crap about it, he would probably be all right.

Henry shrugged once again and looked right at her. "I dunno. Mom just gave me a really good talk. It helped me feel really comfortable with this. I'm just… okay. I'm really okay."

Emma's heart lit up and finally those damn butterflies fluttered away. Regina was a wonder. Even while she had taken a lot of time to get comfortable with her status, she made sure Henry was good. _She's such a good mother_.

"Despite everything, kid, I think we got lucky with Regina," Emma said.

Henry took a breath and let loose a laugh. "Yeah. I think this helps me better understand her, too. She told me some of the things her mother did to her when she presented and I'm really happy I got to go through this with you two. I've heard some horror stories about male omegas when they present."

She gave him a little squeeze around the shoulders. "We're never going to make you a horror story."

"I know." Henry smiled, more to himself than her, and tapped the book in his hand. "I really don't mind, Ma. I know your status is hard for you, but I'm okay. Even as a male omega, I think it actually suits me. I mean, I've always been a little weird. This is just something else."

Emma frowned. "Kids aren't picking on you or anything, right?" Henry did not have many friends, but he was not a social butterfly either. Emma hoped that was his choice and not kids purposely isolating him for whatever reasons.

"No, nothing like that. Well, not where I can tell anyway. But, even when there was the Curse, the kids sort of kept me at arm's length. I have my core group of friends, but that's kinda it. I'm fine with that. I'm like an introvert, but okay with being on adventures and with people I really like to be around."

Emma scratched her head. "How the hell are you so much like both of us?" She and Regina had their core group of friends and that was it. It was enough for both of them. Hell, their core groups rarely even mixed.

Henry shrugged. "I'm your kid."

She hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're our kid. I'm so glad you're you and I'm so glad you have your mom." Tears actually pricked Emma's eyes. Regina's handling of this, of raising Henry, of Henry being able to handle this, it was so much. It felt like she was about to overflow with emotion.

"Ma, you okay?" Henry asked, his face scrunched up with worry.

Emma sniffled. "Of course." She let him go, in case she needed her hands to rub her eyes and catch any tears.

"You're crying, you know?"

Emma did not know. She turned away and wiped her face. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's come over me."

Henry shook his head. "It's an emotional time. Me and Mom cried a bunch of times while we talked. It's okay."

"Your mom cried in front of you?" Emma could not picture it. Not when Regina was always trying to be so strong for them, especially Henry.

He regarded her like she was the kid between them. "Yeah. It was okay. We had good cries. You can have one, too."

Emma took a deep breath. "You're such a good kid, Henry. I love you so much." She leaned over and kissed the side of his head. She could not help tasting a tear that rolled down her cheek. The saltiness seemed happy, oddly enough.

"I love you, too, Ma." He wrapped her up in an awkward hug.

"And I love your Mom. I love that you both could sit down and have this conversations together. This seems so big to me. I guess it didn't occur to me how major this would be…" Emma shook her head, not sure how to explain it or if she should explain it to him. How much had Regina shared with him?

"This isn't what happened when you presented, right?"

Emma frowned. "Not even close. At the time, I was living with a foster family. They had an omega daughter, so when I presented, the alpha of the house, my foster mom Elle, threatened to cut my thing off if I touched her daughter."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, and I believed she'd do it. A week after I presented, she tossed me in an alpha group home, which showed me how awful alphas could be. But, other than that, I didn't really get any talking. And, eventually, well, remember when I blurted out you shouldn't do drugs?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I thought you were just being weird."

She sniffled and wiped her nose, even though it was not running. "Well, obviously I was being weird. I'm weird a lot. Where do you think you get it from? Anyway, I ended up really ashamed of being an alpha because they're always terrible. I took drugs to make people think I was a beta. I wanted to be a beta. Well, I wanted to be anything but an alpha."

Henry patted her hand. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Ma. You deserved having someone to help you. But, you should know not all alphas are bad at this point. I mean, you're pretty freaking awesome."

Emma wrapped an arm around Henry and mussed his hair again. "You guys make me awesome. But, the real awesome one is you. You're taking this like a champ."

"That's thanks to Mom." Henry gave her a sidelong look. "You're right, you know? We got lucky with Mom. We all got lucky with each other."

Emma laughed, tears finally gone. "Yeah, but us more so because she's making your favorite dinner. The best we can do is buy her something when she's down."

"Well, if you knew how to do something beyond fry everything, you, too, could make her favorite food."

Emma chuckled and the atmosphere got a little lighter. Henry wanted to show her a school project he started working on. He had to create a movie poster for a book they were reading in class. _Animal Farm_. Emma had never read it, but he explained enough of it to her for her to decide his poster was a little cheesy. It was definitely a rip off of an _Avengers_ poster.

"Wow, the only thing missing is Napoleon with one of the Infinity Stones," Emma said as she carefully placed the poster on his desk.

Henry pouted. "Well, I wanted it to be exciting. The book is really good, so I want a poster that makes people want to read it."

"By fooling them into thinking Thanos is coming? We can do better. We're kinda smart when push comes to shove." Emma grinned at him and he grinned back.

She helped change the poster up, make it less of a stolen work of art, until they were called down to dinner. It smelled as wonderful as dinner always did and Emma's stomach growled as soon as they hit the bottom of the stairs. It was when they all sat at the table that Emma got another rush of emotion.

It was just the three of them for once. Emma was not sure where Zelena was and did not care for now. She took in their little family. _I'm so lucky_. Then, Regina served them all, chicken parmesan with linguine noodles and green beans on the side. Emma and Henry both had more cheese than anything else. Regina was treating them both. There was a basket of hot, buttered bread in the middle of the table with a salad bowl. _I want this forever_.

Emma held in a gasp at what seemed like an epiphany, but it was nothing of the sort. She knew she wanted this forever, wanted this life. But, still, it felt like something shot through her. She had this wonderful family, a great kid who was mature enough to not only handle presenting a status that most consider inferior, but also try to console her over her status. Added to that, this great woman who made their son's favorite meal after talking him through a trying rite of passage. She could not think of many alphas who could have this and not muck it up. She would not be the one to muck it up.

"Hey, Ma, you okay?" Henry asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

Emma blinked. "Oh, yeah." She turned her attention to her food, knowing that was why Henry inquired if she was all right. "I got lost in my thoughts for a second there."

Henry nodded and ate a huge bite of his food. "Anything you want to share?"

"Not right now. I gotta get some things in order. You wanna tell your mom about the changes you made to your project?" Emma needed attention off of her. She did not want Regina to jump in on the questioning of her thoughts.

Henry wasted no time regaling Regina with his project and the little additions Emma added on. As he spoke and Regina listened with rasp attention, Emma felt overcome again. Maybe it was the quiet that allowed all of her emotions to wash over her like a heavy rain. No Zelena meant no constant wise ass comments that required a rebuttal from someone. It gave her a moment to just take all of this in. She would not mind if Robbie was there, which was like a light hit to the gut. _God, I do want another pup with her_. She wanted everything with Regina.

She wanted to have more children, raise them with Regina, and see them through everything from the moment of conception until they went off to college. Like Henry would in a few years. She would soon have a son in college and eventually he might find his mate, like she had, and have kids of his own. She would have grandkids. But, first, Henry would probably excel in high school whereas she never graduated. Henry had hopes and dreams, things she gave up on at about his age. Just simple things like that made her want to gush with pride. She had to do something about this. As soon as possible.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina studied Emma, who was in her pajamas of a tank top and shorts, lying in bed playing on her phone, while Regina was going through her nightly rituals. Emma had been quiet all day. She would have chalked it up to the shock of Henry presenting, but Emma's interactions with Henry were normal and obviously not forced. Regina moved to get in bed next to Emma, who quickly turned her phone off and put it down on the nightstand. Unusual.

"You don't typically bring your phone to bed," Regina said. Emma did not spend a lot of time on her phone like most people. Every now and then, a game might catch her attention, but she never played them for long. The world seemed interactive enough for her.

Emma blew out a breath. "I was just researching something."

"Anything I could help with?" It could be Emma was looking up ways to support Henry. Regina had done plenty of research on that.

"Not really."

"Does this have to do with Henry presenting as an omega?" Regina asked. She would not be surprised if Emma was looking up any sort of statistics involving male omegas, trying to figure out what she would need to do to make sure their son had as normal a teenage life as possible.

Emma's mouth twisted to the side. "Kinda, but not in the way you think. I'm not worried about him or anything. I mean, whatever you said to him, it had to be really good. He was so… calm and… accepting."

Regina was silent for a moment. Emma was probably amazed by Henry's acceptance because, even now, Emma had issues with being an alpha. Everyone went at their own pace, so Regina would not push. After all, she had only recently accepted her own status, if "recent" was a relative term in regards to how long she had been an omega.

"You want to talk about it?" Regina asked.

"I think I'm just sort of amazed with him and with you. I mean, you talked him into being okay with his status. I don't think I'd have been able to do that if he was an alpha," Emma replied.

Regina knew Emma would not have been able to. Emma was so relieved when Henry confessed he was an omega that she fell against the wall and sighed. Regina doubted Emma was even aware of her actions.

"I would have spoken to him regardless. I've been on both sides, after all," Regina said. While they never outright said it, she always imagined it would be on her to talk to Henry when he presented, regardless of his status.

Emma nodded. "I know and I'm sure whatever he would've been, you would've gotten the same outcome. I mean, you would've made him feel comfortable and secure. I told him how lucky we are to have you."

Regina scoffed. "Really? I've made both of your lives unnecessarily hard." And she would never forgive herself for it, but she would spend all of her time with them now trying to make things easy, comfortable, and good.

"You know what? It was worth it. You and Henry, you're worth the bullshit childhood."

"Even the threat of having your penis cut off and being dumped in an alpha group home?" Regina would never buy Emma's hardship in life was worth it, no matter how many times Emma insisted it was.

Emma put her hands on Regina's hips, pulling her close. Regina wasted no time hooking her leg over Emma's hip as Emma caressed her sides, pressing the silk of her nightgown against her slightly heated skin. The simple touch made Regina melt inside.

"I would do it all over again. Every single everything if it got me here. I love you and Henry that much. Actually, I love this whole set up, which is why I know I'm lucky to have you. I like time with both of you. I like watching Robbie and the Little Guy. I like being a sheriff. I like being settled and domestic."

Regina nodded. "I understand that." She would live through everything all over again, too, to get to this point, but she did not want that for Emma or even Henry. "I just hate that you were hurt."

"Don't worry about it. The pain just became an educating factor for me in life, like it did for you."

Regina scoffed. "I wanted to burn the world down."

"Yeah, but not anymore. The pain from your past helps you be the person you are right now. The amazing woman who comforts our son while I'm holding up a wall." Emma glanced away for a moment.

Regina stroked Emma's cheek. "My love, is that what's troubling you? Tell me."

Emma grinned at her. "No, no, no. I'm not troubled at all. I'm in awe and so in love with you. I think I realized I had a quiet love for you along with everything else. Like I couldn't see it until we sat down at the table tonight. Maybe I got a chance to see this other bit of it because I don't have to listen to Zelena's big mouth."

Regina chuckled. "It is a bit different when she's not around. It gave you a chance to appreciate something more."

Emma nodded. "Just us. Our family. I can't explain it, but it was like a revelation. You ever have moments like that?"

Regina pushed herself a little closer to Emma and smiled a little. "I have little moments almost daily. There are times when I look at you, maybe while you're playing with Robbie or helping Henry with something or just sleeping on the couch and find myself falling deeper in love with you. I find myself marveling over what we're capable of together. I want to go back in time and tell my younger self it gets better. In fact, my dream eventually comes true."

Emma's eyes glistened. "I helped make your dream come true?"

"Of course you did. You gave me Henry and then gave me family."

"How the hell are we so alike?"

Regina was not sure how or why, but they were very alike underneath. Whoever said opposites attracted had never conceived of them. With a sigh, Regina pressed her forehead to Emma's and then had to kiss her. Emma kissed her back, of course.

"I love you," Regina said. The words flowed more freely now than they ever had. Emma freed her from a prison in her own mind. Emma let her spirit soar.

"I love you, too." Emma kissed her and they fell asleep tangled together under a blanket of emotion.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma beat Regina home, which was not unusual. She was glad for it today, though. She needed to talk to Henry. He was in the living room, books spread out on the coffee table. Emma practically leaped out of her heavy boots and coat.

"Henry, lemme talk to you real quick," Emma said in a rushed voice.

Henry looked at her. "You are talking real quick."

Emma frowned. "Smart ass."

Henry shrugged. "I think we established I am my mothers' son."

Emma could not deny that and eased onto the sofa next to him. "Yeah, speaking of your mom… I want to talk to you about her."

Henry looked at her with a scrunched up expression. "Oh, my god, she's not pregnant, is she?" He looked absolutely terrified.

"What? No! What are you talking about?" Emma grimaced.

He winced. "Sorry. I guess I was just thinking back to my talk with Mom and one of the things she mentioned was being careful because I could still get pregnant, even if I haven't gone into heat yet. But, sorry."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my god, you can get pregnant. Oh, geez. Should we buy you condoms?"

Henry looked beyond horrified and his face turned bright red. "What? No! Please, stop talking, Ma!" He waved his hands to get her to stop.

"You started it!" Now, she had to wrap her mind around the fact that one day Henry might end up pregnant. She would have to check any alphas he might date, or even male betas if that was his thing. Was Violet an alpha? Had she presented yet? _I'm so not ready for this_. Her stomach dropped into her feet.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Just tell me what you were going to tell me."

Emma took a breath and then grinned. "Okay, look at this." She went into her pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. Popping open the top, she showed Henry something she had been saving for, but never really realized it. Ever since moving in with Regina, she had saved money on little things and put that money away. Now, almost a year since they sort of fell into a relationship with each other, she had this beautiful ring and was ready to make this permanent.

Henry's eyes went wide and he gasped. "You're gonna propose?"

"Yeah. You okay with that?" He did not seem to be okay if Regina might be pregnant, so he might have some objection with this.

"Of course I'm okay with that! That's awesome! Yes. Do it. You have a plan?" He bounced next to her, ready to make a plan.

Emma smiled. "Yeah, I know what I want to do. What do you think of this ring?" It was thin, platinum band weaved together like an infinite symbol with rubies and black diamonds that wrapped around a large ruby. It shouted "Regina" at her the moment she saw it.

"It's perfect."

Emma's chest filled with pride. "And you're sure you're okay with me asking her?" She did not want to do anything that might disrupt or disturb their family situation.

"Ma, I would love for my parents to be mated and married."

"Even if… even if we eventually have another pup?" Emma wanted that, but Henry did not seem too thrilled over the idea his mother might be pregnant.

Henry twisted up his mouth and rested his chin in his hand in thought. "I think I'd actually make a pretty cool big brother."

She arched an eyebrow. "Then why the first reaction?"

"I guess I just never considered I might have to share you guys, but I'm sharing you right now with Robbie and my mini-unc. And you both are really good with them. Why shouldn't you have another pup? Besides, I'll be off to college soon. Maybe you guys should have one. I mean, I'm sure if we were a normal family, I'd have at least a brother or sister by now," he replied.

Emma wanted to tell him he definitely would have had siblings had they been normal, but she did not want to poke the bear too much. It was nice that he was trying to be understanding, but that was something for later. Right now, she had Henry's permission to change their family dynamic. She wanted to get to that.

"Your mom is gonna say yes, right?" Emma found herself asking.

Henry scoffed. "Duh! Now, how about you help me this lit homework? Poetry never makes sense to me."

Emma chuckled and did not point out that poetry did not make sense to her either. This was Regina territory, but they could both pretend she knew what she was doing for now.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Emma's plan.


	2. Sudden Downpour

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

A/N: here there be sexy times and a bit of a kink.

2: Sudden Downpour

Emma was almost giddy having Henry's permission to ask Regina to marry her. She knew exactly how she wanted to go about it, especially since the weather was growing warmer. _It'll be romantic_. So, now she had to ask Regina on the date.

Emma stood outside Regina's study door, but did not knock. Nerves froze her hand and she was bombarded by thoughts and doubts. Would it be better to mate Regina before marrying her? They had sort of talked about this, but it was more of a joke as to who would do what first. Was this right? Would Regina even want to marry another alpha? Would Regina want to marry her former husband's granddaughter?

_I didn't even know the man and she's cool with being in a relationship with me_. Emma felt like that should at least take care of one question. Still, her stomach twisted as she thought this might be a bad idea. _What if Regina wants to keep things like they are? Things are good. Why change them?_

"Emma, are you going to come in or not?" Regina called.

"Fuck." Emma sucked her teeth. She forgot about magic and Regina could probably sense her presence thanks to their weird connection. _It's not weird. I like being connected to her like that and that should be a sign_. Taking a breath, she opened the door. "Hey." She gave Regina an awkward wave. _Smooth. You're an idiot_.

Regina, parked behind her desk, arched an eyebrow. There were some papers and a couple of folders in front of her. Whatever she was working on had her forehead vein popped up a little. Since Storybrooke was Storybrooke there was never a shortage of things that might give Regina an aneurism, between monsters, mythological creatures, budgets, and the occasional attempted coup over her leadership, she stayed busy outside of the house.

Emma did not think, going to Regina and pulling her from her seat. Regina yelped, but put her arms around Emma's neck as Emma carried her bridal-style over to the chaise. She eased down into a lounging position and Regina wasted no time cuddling into her. Her arms went around Regina automatically. She inhaled Regina's wonderful scent and it eased her anxiety. She did not care about her own nerves now. She just wanted to take care of Regina.

"Is everything okay?" Emma asked, kissing the top of Regina's head. The week had been tough beyond Henry presenting. Again, Storybrooke was Storybrooke. Hell, a couple of weeks ago Storybrooke had gone above and beyond, trying to be Hell. There were demons, ghouls, and zombies in the street before a main event with a few Big Bads. That had only ended a few days ago.

Regina sighed. "Fine. It's just a mountain of repairs and requests for aid after those Titans waged war against us."

Emma groaned, not wanting to remember the specifics of two weeks ago. It was one thing to live in a fairy tale, but the thing with the Titans was right out of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ up until the Titans showed up. There was a Hell mouth and everything. Worst of all, Regina did not get any of her _Buffy_ references. Well, that and the Titans were pretty awful, too, but references made the best one-liners and Regina was a terrible audience. A great partner, though, and it took severa, long days, but eventually they had the Titans back where they belonged, either in the sky or in Tartarus.

"Your job always gets worse after we have one of these epic battles," Emma said.

"Well, it's part of my job to handle the cleanup. I'd love for the villains to clean up after themselves every once and a while."

"Yes, but it's not part of your job to get into ultimate fighting matches with guys beyond the gods." Emma had not even realized there was something beyond a god until the Titans showed up. She always thought "titan" was just a word. She was learning plenty of new things living in Storybrooke and some of them she wished remained unknown.

"It's not something a mayor typically has to handle, but if I were still queen, I'd be expected to do the best for my people. I think some of that is still instilled in me."

"A mayor's supposed to be the best for your people, too, but not out in front like that."

Regina smiled. "In ancient times, both here and at home, a leader was at the front. Well, a good leader, anyway, I think I took that to heart, even if I haven't always been good. Besides, people used to see me at the front as the Evil Queen, so let them see me at the front here, saving them instead of slaughtering them."

"Sometimes I don't know if you're being nice or strategic."

Regina wiggled, like her back was stiff. "Can't it be both?"

Emma hummed and stroked Regina's head. The feel of silk locks under her fingertips made her want to stay where they were forever. "Could I suggest we go on a date to help you unwind?"

Regina let loose something very close to a purr and she sank into Emma's embrace. "What did you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise."

Regina turned onto her side and tucked her head underneath Emma's chin. "I'm intrigued. When did you have in mind? Or is that a surprise, too?"

Emma snickered a little. "No. Whenever you're available. I know you have a lot on your plate right now." There was a whole section of town under construction thanks to the Titans.

"I'm used to it. Besides, having you around actually helps a lot."

Emma could feel the wrinkle in her brow. "How so?"

"You're able to keep an eye on Henry, give him attention if he needs it. Every now and then, you try to handle things in the kitchen or you'll order takeout, so I don't have to cook. You get me to unwind, watching ridiculous shows or some other such nonsense. And, there are the other things you do." Regina purred and pressed herself a little closer.

For a moment, Emma was confused by the sound, but then realized she was caressing Regina's stomach. _Do I just touch her on instinct? Hell, am I doing this because I keep thinking about having another pup with her? _The thoughts made her reconsider her proposal. Maybe they should mate first. Her throat tightened, as she was not sure how she might work up the courage to put her mark on Regina or even suggest Regina put a mark on her. Maybe they needed to talk about it again.

"I should probably get back to work," Regina said, pulling away slightly.

Emma tugged her a little closer. "No, stay for a while."

"I'll fall asleep." Her voice was the closest Regina would come to whining while not in bed.

A light chuckle escaped Emma. "Maybe you need a little nap."

"At eight at night? That's not going to happen." Yet, her eyes fluttered shut as she snuggled a little closer. She blatantly inhaled against Emma's neck. "You smell good."

Emma could not fight the smile on her face. "You're tired and overworked. It makes you a cuddle-monster."

Regina only made a noise. Emma, not a complete and total moron and enjoying the moment, did not say anything. While continuing to rubbing Regina's abdomen, Emma nuzzled her hair and inhaled her scent once more. It changed a bit from just moments ago. A relaxed Regina smelled soothing, almost like lavender. It was a such a different aroma to when Regina was active or aroused. It took Emma a moment to realize her eyes drooped.

"How about we go to bed?" Emma suggested.

Regina made a noise, showing she was not far from going to bed right on Emma. "It's only eight and I have work to do."

"You've worked hard enough this week, not just for the town, but for the family. Henry presenting was so emotional. It took a lot of energy from all of us. Let's just go to bed." She was certain the exhaust tugging at Regina right now had everything to do with Henry's presenting than with the annoyance divine disturbance right before it.

"Need a shower."

"I know. Let me take care of you." That was what an alpha was supposed to do for her omega. _But, you don't want to be an alpha_. Well, she was one and she should be the best possible alpha she could for Regina. _Is there such a thing? _Did it really matter? She wanted to take care of Regina. _So, just do that_.

Regina did not say anything and Emma tucked her arms around Regina, securing her. Emma slowly climbed to her feet and made her way to the door. It was easier to carry Regina now than it used to be. She liked to think that muscle mass she seemed to be gaining came from taking longer runs and actually using the little bit of exercise equipment they had at the station, but she knew that was only possible from not doing her beta drugs anymore. Having been to the doctor since her first visit, the muscle she gained was a bit of a surprise to Doctor Aye, but after running some tests, he felt he could better predict the changes to her body as her brain began producing the hormones that made an alpha an alpha. She could maintain these new muscles as long as she worked out regularly, which she supposed was the same for most people, even though it was supposed to be easier for alphas. It gave her something to do at work during the boring times, which there was plenty of when villains were not roaming the streets.

Emma glanced down at Regina as she opened the door and started down the hall. Regina was cute in her sleep, but there were some lines on her face from stress. Hopefully, they would disappear after a good night's rest and seeing how well she handled Henry. She put Regina down in the bed and then went to start the shower in the bathroom. Once that was done, she went back to Regina and now found she did not want to wake her up.

"Hey, babe, you still want that shower?" Emma shook Regina a bit.

Regina mewed and blinked a couple of times. "Shower, yes."

"I'll help you undress."

Regina purred once more and rolled over to her back. Emma chuckled and wasted no time helping Regina out of her shirt and skirt. She undressed herself as well and carried Regina into the shower. The soft spray of hot water was enough to wake Regina to keep her on her feet.

"I got you," Emma said in a low voice as she grabbed Regina's loofa and loaded it with Regina's body wash.

"You're wonderful," Regina murmured as Emma ran the loofa gently over her arms.

Emma smiled. "I think that's you. You're doing so much, all the time."

Regina did not argue or comment. Emma washed Regina as thoroughly as she could without making it sexual and then gave herself a quick wash before turning off the water. She toweled them both off and then picked Regina back up. Regina yelped and wrapped her arms around Emma's neck.

"You don't have to carry me," Regina said and then she yawned.

"Oh, but I want to."

Regina smiled, quietly enjoying Emma's strength as much as Emma liked to display it. Emma did not let her go once they got the bed and laid down with Regina basically on top of her. Regina tucked herself against Emma, putting her head right under Emma's chin. Emma sighed and rubbed Regina's back.

"You wanted something before," Regina said.

"Hmm?"

"When you came to my study. You wanted something."

"We kinda talked about it already," Emma replied.

Regina's eyes drifted shut. "We did?"

Emma smiled, as this was cute, even though she was bit surprised Regina was so tired she forgot the conversation they had twenty minutes ago. "You want to go on a date soon? Just the two of us. I've already got it planned out."

"Of course. This weekend."

Emma smiled even more. "It's a date."

-8-8-8-8-

Regina was not sure what made Emma think a nighttime picnic in the park was her idea of a good date, but she was always willing to indulge Emma. Besides, Emma promised her a relaxing night, which she sorely needed. She did not realize until falling asleep on Emma the other night how worn out she was. It was not work. She was certain it was worry over Henry.

Henry had taken her words in and seemed all right with his status, but she knew he had a long, oppressive road ahead of him. Had she and Emma prepared him for that? Was there still time to prepare him for that? How did she prepare him for that without crushing his spirit or making him self-conscious about his sex status?

"Regina, you okay?" Emma asked, holding Regina's hand as they moved through the park. Of course Emma had a specific spot she wanted to show Regina.

"I'm fine. Simply wondering how you came across this remote area," Regina replied. It was something that had been on her mind since before they left the house. Emma requested she wear the most comfortable and practical shoes she owned. She had a pair of slip-on sneakers she never wore until now. It was a wise decision.

"I chased a chupacabra through here like a month ago."

"Is that when you came home all scratched up?" Regina had worried Emma had fallen into a thicket from the way her clothes were shredded and every bit of her seemed to be marked with long wounds.

"Yes!" Emma made a noise of disgust. "Who the hell thought to put claws and fangs on what's essentially a rabid groundhog?"

"Nature." Nature of this realm had a sense of humor, but not like the Old World.

Emma snickered. "I'd curse nature, but it made this spot. You're gonna like it. I promise."

Thirty years ago, Regina probably would have loved it, but she could not see herself feeling that way now. _Oh, what would Emma have done with the wide-eyed eighteen year old you?_ They would never know, but she could picture her younger self loving this. Now, the almost forty, biologically anyway, Regina wanted to go home and sit on the couch, away from the bugs, rocks, and almost tripping more times than she liked. Still, she pressed on with Emma until they got to a clearing.

It was not large by far, but on a hill that gave them just enough height to see the lake. There were bushes, brush, and trees to give them privacy, but enough opening in the air for her to see the stars. The moon was bright and full, gleaming down on the dark lake. It was like a scene from a painting.

"What do you think?" Emma asked with a grin.

"It's lovely." And it was. It sparked embers of the old her, the young her. The Regina who never got a chance to bloom, who loved the great outdoors, animals, and the stars. _She's still in there. Emma knows that_.

"I knew you'd appreciate it, even if sitting in the dirt probably doesn't appeal to you." Emma chuckled at her own remark as she spread the picnic blanket on the ground. "Come, sit with me for a while."

Regina did not hesitate, moving to curl into Emma's side as soon as she was down. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina and they stared at the dark, star-speckled sky in silence for a long moment. It was nothing like the night sky in the Enchanted Forest, but it was still brilliant.

"So… something tells me you know stuff about the stars," Emma said.

Regina smiled. "Really? What makes you think that?"

Emma shrugged. "It seems like something you would know and when we were in Neverland, you stared at the sky a lot, like you were trying to figure out where we were."

"Of course you were watching me try to remain sane in Neverland."

"Uh, yeah, of course. You know what effect you have on me, even when I'm trying to fight it. Is knowing the stars like an aristocrat thing or something?"

Regina shook her head. "No, this was something my father started with me when I was little and then I would use it to keep calm as I got older. Stargazing helped keep me sane in the palace."

Emma grunted, but did not add anything. Regina was not surprised. The alpha in Emma did not like to be reminded Regina had been with another alpha. It was understandably worse when that alpha was Emma's grandfather. And, of course, Emma hated that she had been forced into a relationship. That hatred went to several levels, one being unable to protect Regina, even though Emma did not even exist at the time. Regina decided to fill the air before the silence got awkward.

"The stars are different everywhere we go for some reason. It baffles me. Is this all not the same universe? When we go through a portal, is it another galaxy? When we cross realms, what if we are traveling to different planets?" Regina asked a question she had only asked herself in quiet moments.

Emma's brow furrowed. "So portals are wormholes? You watch _Star Trek_?"

Regina cut her eyes at Emma, who knew the answer to that. Emma laughed, making it obvious she was trying to get a rise out of Regina for whatever reason. Regina discussed the sky, pointing out constellations and naming stars, while Emma unpacked the picnic basket. There was wine and fruit salad and because this was Emma, _Granny's_ takeout as the main course.

"I was going to cook, but nothing I can make travels well," Emma said as she passed Regina a container with grilled chicken salad.

"Aw, you mean you couldn't figure out how to bring tacos with you?" Regina nudged Emma a bit. While Regina did not mind the taste of tacos now that they were in the dinner rotation to a degree, it bothered her that it was almost impossible to eat them while retaining the dignity and grace of a queen.

"Cold spaghetti didn't seem romantic either. In fact, Henry threatened to disown me if I did that. But, I made the fruit salad just the way you like it and I got your favorite wine."

Regina nodded. The fruit salad was perfection and paired well with the wine, as did her chicken salad. They ate in silence and cuddled close. It was very nice. It was just what Regina needed. Her body loosened up and she felt the stress evaporate from her shoulders. Before long, she was snuggled against Emma like they were home on the couch, except with the romantic view of a glistening lake.

"I needed this," Regina said. She did not realize how tightly she was wound until she was able to take a breath.

"I know. I have to take better care of you," Emma replied, hands around Regina, securing her in place.

"You take excellent care of me, my love. You noticed I was stressed much sooner than I would've admitted it to myself and you set up this wonderful date." And it was wonderful to see how well Emma knew her. Never once would she have thought to do something like this for herself. _What did I ever do to deserve her?_

Emma chuckled. "While I do want to relieve your stress, I had a whole different reason for bringing you to my special spot and letting you take in the awesome scenery."

Regina looked at Emma with an arched eyebrow. "Oh? And what's your ulterior motive?"

Emma grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"I asked, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you didn't ask nicely."

Regina snorted. "And now I won't."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Of course you won't. One of the many reasons I love you. Sometimes, I try to pin down when I fell in love with you, but it's impossible. Recently, though, I realized the exact moment I consciously decided I want this for the rest of my life. I want this relationship, I want this family, I want you in all your prickly glory. I'm lucky and awed you want me back, that you would have my pup, and that you would allow me into your heart as you have…" Emma leaned over to reach into the picnic basket.

"Emma…" Regina could guess where this was going and her breath hitched.

"Will you marry me?" Emma held up a little ring box and popped it open.

Regina gasped, more because Emma had enough magical know-how to light up the ring and allow her to see it than anything else. But, then she took in the ring and her breath hitched in her chest for a second time. It was beautiful.

"Yes…" Regina could feel the word pass her lips and she had never felt so sure of anything.

Emma let loose a hysterical laugh and grabbed Regina into a kiss. When they broke away, Emma gave her a small, shy smile. "Are you sure?"

"Put the ring on me." She was beyond sure.

Emma did not hesitate, but her hand shook as she slid the ring on Regina's second to last finger on her left hand. For a brief second, her hand felt impossibly heavy. Heavy with the weight of their love and affection. Her heart was light for the same reason.

"This is a yes, right?" Emma asked, in her cute, shy insecure way.

Regina's response was to leap on her and kiss her with all the passion that was suddenly overflowing in her body. Emma responded, kissing her back, hands going right to Regina's waist. Each touch of Emma's lips and tongue made Regina feel even more flooded with emotion. She needed to do something about it.

Emma was dressed slightly nice since this was a date, but Regina ripped her oxford shirt open, sending buttons flying in the dark. She would fix the shirt later. For now, she needed Emma to understand how amazing this was to her. She needed to direct all of this emotion somewhere.

Emma seemed right there with Regina, reaching for the zipper on Regina's dress. Emma had not told her to dress sensible for the date, only wear comfortable shoes. As soon as the dress dropped slightly from her shoulders, Emma kissed her neck and collarbones.

"Are we really about to do this?" Emma asked before sucking on Regina's throat.

Regina moaned. "Yes."

"Outside sex. Awesome. Have I corrupted you enough?" It was a joke, but Regina did not want to let corruption enter her mind, not since people thought she corrupted not just Emma, but Henry as well.

"Do you really want to have this conversation? Because a part of you seems to need attention right now." Regina rocked against Emma's hardness.

Emma groaned and Regina wasted no time opening Emma's pants, freeing her erection. While Emma had gained some muscle mass over time since she stopped her beta drugs, one part of her remained the same and Regina was quite happy for that. She never lied when she told Emma she was a perfect fit for her.

"Do you want me to put my mouth on you?" Regina asked, dropping her voice a little.

Emma groaned into her flesh, teeth grazing the column of Regina's neck. "As much as I'd love for you to suck me off by moonlight, the impossibility of this makes me want to get to the main event."

Regina leaned in for another kiss. "You're starting to sound like me."

Emma groaned again as Regina pushed up a little, shoving her dress up to her thighs. She had not bothered with panties because, well, she was on a date with Emma. It was forgone conclusion how the night would end unless something unexpected happened. It was a good thing, too, because had she been wearing underwear, it would have been ruined beyond repair the moment Emma proposed. It would never cease to amaze her how wet Emma made her.

Emma's fingers dug into Regina's hips as she sank down on Emma's length. Emma practically howled once she was all the way in. Regina's breath hitched again as her body sang, always happy to receive Emma. This would never get old. She would never tire of it, melted into Emma because of it. Her body pulsed with a sense of longing, familiarity, and love.

"Fuck…" Emma thrust up into Regina.

Regina squeaked and tightened her hold on Emma, hanging on for the ride as Emma moved with great haste. "Ah, so perfect…" She meant it. That was perfect.

Emma took the encouragement for what it was and thrust into Regina at a blistering pace. Regina's mouth fell open as pleasure burned down every nerve in her body. She put her hands on Emma's shoulders to brace herself and match Emma's pace. Emma took control of her hips, trying to move her even faster, harder.

If there was anyone around, there would be no mistaking what was happening in the clearing based on the sound alone. The squish of their bodies moving together seemed to bounce off of the trees, mixing with their heavy breathing. The moans and mewls from both of them seemed to climb to the heavens. It was music to Regina's ears.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Emma grunted and then lost her balance, throwing off their rhythm and jostling Regina on top of her.

Regina would have laughed as Emma fell back if only they were not in the middle of rather momentous lovemaking. Regina's hand slipped from her shoulder and she grabbed for anything to maintain her balance. Her hand went to Emma's throat and Emma moaned as she settled onto her elbows. Their eyes locked and Regina smirked as she gave a little squeeze.

"Fuck! No, no, no. Don't! I'll fucking come," Emma warned her, as if that would make her stop. More often than not, she was more interested in giving Emma an orgasm than having her own, but Emma felt the same way, which was why she begged Regina not to.

Regina kept the eye contact and rode Emma for all she was worth. Regina could not help moaning as she moved and Emma's sounds, gasps and groans, added to her pleasure. The tune of their love drowned out anything else around them. Regina's nerves were happy enough to burst and her brain overloaded from the adoration. Her thumb rubbed up and down on Emma's throat, earning a low croon from Emma.

She knew if she gave Emma just the right amount of pressure on her neck, Emma would blow like an active volcano. This was a little kink Emma had been surprised to find out she had. Regina only recalled it from Emma's rut after they started exploring sexual things together outside of their sync. Emma did not like to be choked really, just the pressure on her throat. Regina enjoyed Emma trusting her so much as to give her access to her neck like this.

Regina adjusted her body, bouncing on Emma now. The angle was just right, hitting all the spots inside of Regina, causing sparks to flash before her eyes. She moved one of her hands to play with Emma's breasts while keeping the other on Emma's throat. She flicked Emma's nipple and she might have short circuited Emma's senses.

Emma hissed and fell back, giving up on trying to stay up apparently. Her hands wandered from Regina's thighs, up her torso, and pulled the front of her dress down to have access to Regina's breasts. Knowing what was coming did not stop the electricity that rushed through her as Emma rolled her nipple. Her head fell back and her speed picked up. Her hand squeezed on Emma's neck.

"Fuck, stop!" Emma begged with a sob.

"No, you stop. Hold it off," Regina growled, eyes staring down into Emma. She had never tried that before. It could go one of two ways, make Emma blow right now or get her to hold off until Regina climaxed. Either one sat well with her, as it was just another bit of information to tuck away when she and Emma were intimate.

Emma groaned and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, but it was from the pressure on her neck, not because she peaked. Regina moved with more intent and Emma palmed both of her breasts while bucking upward in hard, smooth strokes. Regina could feel the bliss build and build and build and then her eyes caught sight of the ring on her finger. It was all she needed to see. She exploded like a star going supernova, crying out and not caring who might hear.

"Fuck!" Emma roared, causing Regina to realize she was probably squeezing Emma's throat too hard. Not that Emma complained, too busy erupting inside of Regina.

Regina resisted the urge to bear down on Emma to accept her knot. They did not need to be tied together for any amount of time half naked and sweaty in the woods. They could pick this up at home where she would treat Emma to not just pressure to her neck, but also a good ride on her knot as well. _I wonder what would happen if I rocked on her knot while squeezing her neck?_ Regina felt like once they got home, it would be the perfect time to find out.

"That was amazing," Emma said, her hands caressing Regina's back. It pressed Regina's dress to her wet skin, but she did not mind.

"The celebration or the proposal?" Regina asked as she tucked her head under Emma's chin. She kissed where she could, delighting in the salty taste of Emma's usually sweet skin.

"Both."

Regina chuckled. "Agreed. How about we have round two at home? It's getting a little chilly out here."

"Round two? My mind is still trying to wrap around the fact that you fucked me out here in the woods. My lady is wild." Emma grinned and her eyes shined in even in the dark.

Regina rolled her eyes, but did not say anything. They remained still and quiet for a long moment, but then had to move. Getting off Emma, feeling Emma leave her, put a void in Regina that was filled as she caught sight of her ring. Emma had proposed to her and she had said yes. Wow.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the night takes a wrong turn.


	3. A Crack in the Dam

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

A/N: this chapter picks up right where the last one left off, with some loving.

3: A Crack in the Dam

Regina was certain they ended up in her study because that was where she now hid her choice wines that she did not want to share with Zelena and they were supposed to toast their engagement. They had not had a drop of wine. Somehow, she ended up on her desk with her dress pushed up passed her thighs, her legs wrapped around Emma's waist, and her fingers digging into Emma's shoulders. Small noises and panting filled the room.

Emma pumped into Regina with the usual vigor and she clung to taut muscles as pleasure bubbled up in her like volcano ready to explode. Emma leaned down and sucked on her neck and Regina shook as she climaxed, pleasure spiking through her, thinking Emma might bite her, even though they had not discussed mating marks in real detail. She craved the attention, though.

_Stop thinking like that. You can talk about mating marks soon enough. Right now, just enjoy Emma and everything she wants to give you_. The thought made Regina cling hard, nails biting into Emma's flesh. Emma did not seem to mind, her strokes becoming sharper, more powerful. Regina cried out as a particularly amazing plunge and her body spasmed again, drowning in the rapture that was Emma.

"Yes, my love. Yes," Regina moaned as she scratched down Emma's back. Emma was now the entire world, universe, giving her everything and she could only love Emma for it.

"Feels so good," Emma muttered into her skin and dragged her teeth down Regina's throat. The gaze of her teeth made Regina's nerves jump, even though it was a tease, a promise unfulfilled.

"Yes!" A third orgasm rocked her body and Regina could hardly think as the sensation overload short circuited her brain. Affection buzzed through every piece of her, owned every thought of hers.

Regina fell against Emma, nails possibly permanently buried in Emma's shoulders. She panted into Emma's sweet smelling skin. She pressed wet, breathy kisses to wherever her mouth could reach and Emma moaned in the perfect way she did when she peaked. Emma grabbed her hips and pulled her closer, pushing in her knot. Each time she felt the knot, it was like electricity bursting through her veins. Regina whimpered and jumped, fourth orgasm rippling through her.

Regina cried out, certain her body would give out. She could hardly hold herself up, but Emma had her. Emma growled and panted against Regina's overheated skin. It took them several long moments to do anything more than breathe.

"Fuck, I can't believe I'll get to knot you for the rest of my life," Emma mumbled, one hand pressed against Regina's thigh and the one sliding upward. Eventually, her hand rested under Regina's breast and, of course, she flicked Regina's nipple.

Regina could not help chuckling, even as sparks popped under her skin from Emma's knot and her thumb toying with Regina's nipple. "Well, I'm sure that's the draw for you."

Emma pulled away, just enough to look Regina in the eye. She looked so serious, more so than Regina had ever seen, especially during sex. "No, it's one of so many things," she replied and sounded so head over heels. "Now, I need to sit down."

Regina twirled a lock of Emma's hair at the nape of her neck. "Carry me to the chaise?"

"Or you could teleport us…" Emma gave her a grin.

"I can barely remember my name thanks to you and you want me to teleport us?" She was not sure how she was still awake after that.

Emma scoffed. "Well, I'm almost certain if I try to move you off this desk, we're both gonna fall on the floor. I'd never forgive myself if I dropped you."

Regina snorted. "What is the point of having these muscles if you're not going to use them?" She ran her fingers down the lines of Emma's back. Each cut made her shudder and pulse. Damn, she had been physically attracted to Emma before, but this was ridiculous.

Emma had to feel her reaction, as she dared to chuckle. "I think they're there for you to cling to."

Regina blew out a breath, but she could not call Emma a liar there. Trying to focus beyond the knot nestled so perfectly inside of her, Regina managed to get them to the chaise with a wiggle of her fingers. Emma let loose a sigh of relief as her back hit the cushion. Regina was on top of Emma and tempted to rock on her knot, but she did not have the energy to do so after so many glorious orgasms.

"You couldn't poof away my clothes?" Emma asked. She was still mostly dressed, just minus her shirt and bra. Her pants and boxer-briefs were around her knees.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Shall I feed you pizza while I do that?"

Emma's eyes brightened. "Yes, please!"

"You're so ridiculous." Despite the words, Regina smiled and stroked Emma's neck and down her back. She pressed light kisses to Emma's throat.

A pleased sigh escaped Emma. "No, I'm super happy. You said yes and then you gave me outdoor sex and on the desk sex."

Regina took a deep breath, gathering her resolve to punish Emma. Sitting up straight, she rolled her hips and moaned as she moved on Emma's knot. Emma screamed and blew out a breath, which only urged Regina on. Regina smirked at her as she felt the blast erupt Emma's cock, drained of every last drop in an instant. Emma collapsed onto the chaise, panting and eyes closed. If the past were any indication, Emma would hardly be able to move, let alone say anything silly.

"You are so evil," Emma said, voice sleepy.

"Really? Most alphas would probably love to have an omega ride their knot," Regina replied through a breath. The knot was so big now and it felt so good inside of her.

Ever since they discovered this delightful motion, Regina liked to treat them to it, but it only worked if she was on top. Any other position, it hurt her to move on Emma's knot too much. And, even this, she would pay for it. If she moved on Emma's knot right now, as it was beyond inflated, even if it was empty, it would hurt Regina.

"Feels so good…" Emma's voice slurred.

Regina nodded and moved a hand to stroke Emma's neck. Her ring glinted on her finger. Emma turned her head enough to kiss Regina's fingertips. She then grinned at Emma.

"You said yes," Emma said, her voice low, possibly in awe.

"You proposed before me."

There was a dopey smile on her face, which was made worse since her eyes were nearly closed. "But, you said yes."

"I did in fact say yes."

Emma smiled even more, but then her forehead wrinkled. Her closed eyes now squinted, as if she was trying to see something. She seemed confused. It was possible her brain was not getting enough blood yet.

"You sure you wanna marry me?" Emma asked.

"Of course I'm sure. Why would you ask that?" Regina's brow furrowed now as well. She could not fathom why Emma would think she would say something other than yes. Had she not proven how much she loved Emma?

Emma's entire face scrunched up, like nothing made sense. Again, she could be suffering from not enough blood to the brain. "I mean, you're such a catch and I'm me. Have you seen you? You're gorgeous."

Regina smiled. "Well, yes, but you're not hard on the eyes yourself." Never once had she failed to notice how beautiful her partner was, long before they were partners. Emma's swagger, even when they first met, was something that set fire coursing through her.

Emma's face did not recover. "It doesn't make any sense for you to say yes. I'm barely an adult mentally and you probably were an adult from the time you were ten."

Regina arched an eyebrow, orgasmic high all but gone. "Do you want me to change my mind?"

"No, but again, this doesn't make sense for you to say yes. Did you do it because we share a pup?"

Regina frowned a little. "We have a family. It's beyond sharing a pup." Why would Emma put together such a wonderful proposal and then downplay her decision like this?

"Right, right, right. A family." Emma glanced at the ceiling, as if trying to make sense of it. Or maybe make sense of their engagement. "A family where you're like this perfect omega. Where I turned you into a stereotype."

Regina's frown deepened. _Where the hell is this coming from?_ "There is no way I fucked your brains out that hard. You didn't turn me into a stereotype and you know that. We've talked about that." She was not sure she liked where this was going. She and Emma had already had this discussion a few times. She did not like Emma thinking in such black and white terms as far as their sex statuses went. This was one of the reasons why Emma still could not accept herself as an alpha.

"Oh, come on, Regina. I get taking care of Henry, he's the pup, right? But, the shit you do for me, you don't have to and I know you wouldn't want to for anyone else," Emma said.

"No, I wouldn't, which is why I accepted your proposal. You're special to me. I wouldn't to marry someone else, to eventually mate with someone else." Why was that so hard to understand? Yes, she knew Emma had insecurity issues, abandonment issues, and a slew of other issues, but so did she and she managed to heal. _Everyone goes at their own pace_, she reminded herself. _Yes, but this is maddening_.

Emma turned her mouth up to one side for a moment. "Yeah, but what if that's all just like omega hormones or something? Like, you had my pup, so something in you makes you feel like you have to settle for me because of Henry."

Regina wondered if the scowl would ever actually leave her face now. _This has to be due to a lack of oxygen getting to her brain. This can't be real_. "So, I'm incapable of making decisions for myself? I'm ruled by my omega hormones?" With the mood and atmosphere fairly dead, she managed to remove herself from Emma's mostly deflated knot. She moved to fix her dress. Some arguments needed to be had while looking somewhat decent.

Emma sat up, eyes wide. "I don't mean it like that."

Regina glared at her. "Then how do you mean it? You're making it sound like I'm only willing to marry you because we already have a child together, almost like no other alpha would want me because of that. Like this is all have rather than all I want."

"That's not what I meant!" Emma shot up, hands on her pants to avoid falling over. She did not seem to care she was flopping in the open air, though.

"No, you merely meant I'm ruled by my hormones and emotions because I'm an omega. I couldn't possibly desire to marry you for the simple fact that I love you for who you are, who I am with you, and the fact that this feels like a fairy tale for me. But, this isn't about me. This is about you." Regina pointed at Emma with such emphasis she was shocked she did not accidentally throw fire at her. She refused to let Emma lay her own issues at Regina's feet, like something was wrong with Regina.

Emma yanked her pants up and fastened them. "How is this about me?"

Regina kept her finger up. "You can't accept who you are, that you are an alpha. You're so insecure in yourself that you can't believe someone, _anyone_, let alone me, would want you, want to build a family with you. Why did you even ask me? Did you want me to turn you down? Give you an excuse to run off?"

The glower Emma gave her was one part anger, one part sorrow. "I'm not going to run off!"

Regina was far from moved. "No, you're just going to make assumptions about me based on my status to piss me off, push me away, and belittle my answer. But, this is really about your status. You hate yourself so much you don't think anyone would or could ever want you."

Emma had the nerve to throw her hands up, like she was imploring Regina. "I just want to make sure you're really doing what you want."

Regina folded her arms across her chest. "You're being ridiculous is what you're doing."

"I'm just trying to look out for you!"

"And stop yelling."

"I'm not going to stop yelling!" Emma's hands went up yet again. "You're talking craziness when I'm trying to make sure this is what you want."

Regina snarled. "I'm starting to doubt right now. You think you know so much, but that's just the arrogant alpha in you, a part of you that you hate. You need to go figure yourself out." She dismissed Emma with a flick of her wrist, but was kind enough not to use magic to do it.

"You know what? Yeah, maybe I will." Emma rushed out of the room. Her footsteps stomped down the stairs and she slammed a door. From the heavy sound, Regina assumed it was the front door. She did not care.

"How dare she? Like her dick is so good, it can muddle my thoughts force me to say yes to marrying her." Regina scowled and went to pour herself a tumbler of cider. _Her dick is good, though_. She growled. _Shut the hell up, brain_.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma was not sure where she was going once she hit the street, but she could not go back inside. She had to magic up a shirt and her jacket. Briefly, _Regina would be proud of me_, drifted through her mind, but immediately left. _Screw Regina_. Regina did not know what she was talking about. Emma was trying to look out for her, not asking questions out of her own insecurity.

_I don't give a damn about being an alpha. Well, I mean, I do, but it's got nothing to with me wondering why she agreed to marry me_. She just wanted to make sure this was what Regina wanted. Was that so wrong? Regina acted like it was a crime to make sure! _How the hell could that possibly equal me being insecure about my status? The hell?_

Regina did not make any sense. If Emma was insecure about her own status, she would worry about bullshit alpha things, not troubles Regina might be going through. So, what was Regina even talking about?

"She's just trying to start an argument and succeeding because she sucks," Emma grumbled to the night air.

She marched down the street, anger in each step. She was not surprised to find herself in front of _Granny's_. It was not open, but she texted Ruby.

"You got a moment? If so, come down." Emma jabbed the send button like she was trying to put her finger through the phone. She also did her best to freshen up, not wanting to offend Ruby if she could come down. Magic came in handy and she was better at it in a pinch than she thought.

"Coming down!" It was followed by a lady running emoji.

Emma barely had to wait for a minute before Ruby popped up at the diner door. As soon as the door opened, Emma went to flop down in a booth. Ruby followed her lead, sitting opposite of her.

"You were asleep?" Emma asked, nodding toward Ruby's pajamas, which were funny enough more conservative than her everyday clothing. Red mesh shorts that went to her knees and a black tank top, both of which were probably "borrowed" from Dorothy.

"Doing some actual Netflix and chill. Dorothy is all about _Stranger Things_," Ruby replied with a fond smile.

Emma chuckled. "I gotta get Regina into some shows. That'd be nice, sit down and veg out together… provided I didn't fuck it up." She would not be surprised if Regina was melting her ring down right now and changing the locks. Her clothes would probably be on the front lawn if she did not get back within the hour.

Ruby nodded. "Ah, what did you do?"

"Okay, so don't freak out, but I proposed to Regina."

Ruby's mouth dropped open and her eyes lit up. "You didn't?" she practically shrieked. "What did she say? What did she say?"

"She agreed, which I guess I should've planned for." _Why the hell didn't I plan for that? I acted like I didn't know she'd accept. Because why the fuck would she accept?!_

"Uh, hell, yeah." Ruby held her hand up for a high five that Emma could not deliver on. Ruby's face wrinkled as she turned her nose up. "Okay, what's up? Why aren't we out popping bottles or something?"

Emma sighed. _What is up? What happened? You know what the hell happened_. Regina was right was what happened. She proposed because she was confident in their relationship, but she still could not believe someone would want her so much, so she had to second guess herself and ruin it. _Well, goddamn it, could the woman at least be wrong once? Do me that favor?_

"I got a bit insecure and asked if she said yes because she's an omega."

Ruby scowled and slapped the table. "Why the hell would you ask that?"

"Because why the hell would she say yes to me? Have you seen me? Have you seen her? So, I thought maybe it's because she had my pup, so she felt stuck with me. I mean, I kinda think she's always stuck with me." Emma shrugged. No matter what Regina said, she had an alpha's pup, not many other alphas would be interested in her, not wanting to raise some other alpha's kid. Alphas were jerks like that.

Ruby was gawking at her like she was wrong. "You are some new kind of idiot, you know that?"

Groaning, Emma dropped her head to the table. "You sound like her. She got really pissed and flipped it on me. She said I was being insecure and I thought about that as I walked over here. At first, I thought she was full of it, but what if she's right?"

Ruby blew out a breath. "I think she is in this instance. Regina loves you, dude."

Emma scratched her forehead. "I know, but what if I'm not enough of an alpha for her? I mean, behind closed doors, that woman is the perfect omega. The cooking, the cleaning. Treating me like I hung the moon when we all know I'm a mess. And the way she's raising Henry, my god."

Ruby snickered. "Okay, don't come in your pants now."

Emma curled her lips. "Don't be gross."

"Oh, I'm not. You should hear yourself gush over her. So, you think you're not enough alpha for her because she's the perfect omega?"

"Well…" Emma's brow furrowed. She was not sure what she thought. Replaying what she just said in her head, it seemed like that was really what she was worried over. What if she was not enough of an alpha to hold onto the perfect omega?

"The perfect omega deserve the perfect alpha, right?"

"There is no perfect alpha. They're shit." Emma scowled.

Ruby nodded. "So, you don't think you deserve her because you're shit."

Emma groaned. Ruby was not wrong. "I am shit compared to her, though. Right?"

Ruby's eyes burned. "Hell, no! You know what the hell she did in her past and you still love her, so why can't she love you with all your flaws? Why are you still so hung up on alphas like this? You know some really cool alphas. You have to come to grips with who you are."

Emma slouched in her seat. "I have come to grips with who I am." _I think. I can't say I'm not some stupid fucking alpha, as that sounds like I still think all alphas are fucking stupid, but I know that's not true. Right?_

"Okay, or you have to come to grips with who alphas are. You know who you should talk to?"

"I thought I was talking to that person."

Ruby shook her head. "No, you should go talk to Granny. She's an alpha."

Emma's mouth dropped open. It made sense, but it did not. "She's an alpha?"

"Yeah, she is and I think she can help you. She had her own alpha crisis when she got attacked by a werewolf and couldn't fight him off."

"Your grandfather?"

"Yeah." Ruby held up her index finger. "I think you need someone who has had troubles being an alpha to relate to. All the alphas you know, even though they're good people, you're stuck at this same place where you kinda hate yourself because of history and society. Well, Granny hated herself because of society for a while, too. She talked to me about it a lot before I turned out to be a beta."

Emma sighed. She did need to talk to someone, someone who might understand and Ruby might be right. She knew plenty of good alphas in town, including her own father, but she was not sure any of them had ever had the trouble she had. She doubted any of them could understand why it bothered her to be an alpha.

"Is Granny up?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, she's a creature of the night. Come on." Ruby waved her on as she stood up.

Emma did not argue. She did not have anything to lose at this point. She did not want to risk going back home and saying something to piss Regina off enough for her to give the ring back, if the ring was still miraculous on Regina's finger anyway. Besides, when she thought about, she knew Regina was right. Regina was not stuck with her. She was a choice and trying to suggest otherwise was just her roundabout way of not feeling good enough, of never feeling good enough.

Regina had been able to accept she was an omega months ago, had done such a good job she was able to make Henry okay with presenting as an omega. Meanwhile, Emma was stuck, probably just passed the point of wanting to cut her penis off. _Why am I like this still?_

They went into the Bed and Breakfast section, to the back where Granny's room was. Ruby knocked and they could hear Granny grumbling about someone interrupting her stories. Emma would have laughed if only her spirits were not so down.

"If you two are in any sort of trouble," Granny said, wagging a finger at them before the door was even open all the way.

"Why do you always think the worst of us?" Emma asked. To be fair, Granny tended to see them at their worst when they were trying to unwind after craziness in town.

"Because I've seen the aftermath of you two on your own at night. I will never forget your 'tequila Sunday.'" Granny shook her head.

"That was a crazy Wednesday," Ruby said.

"Yes, and two adult working women shouldn't be so drunk on a Wednesday night," Granny said.

"To be fair, we almost died," Emma replied.

Granny rolled her eyes. "You almost die weekly. Sometimes, it's not even a villain, just your own stupidity or luck."

"Stupid luck makes us live, though," Emma replied.

Granny narrowed her gaze. "Anyway, what can I do for you two since you're not fall down drunk yet?"

"Emma needs some help, Granny. Like, talk help," Ruby replied.

Granny opened the door wider and waved Emma in. Ruby gave her a wave and turned around, more than likely to return to her room. Emma stepped into Granny's room and Granny shut the door behind her.

"Want some tea?" Granny asked.

"Nah, I gotta be able to walk home later," Emma said with a smart-ass grin.

"This must be something really big for you to make that joke. Have a seat." Granny motioned to her small, three-seat sofa.

Emma flopped down on the couch while Granny sat in the armchair facing the television. It was paused. There was only one lamp on, giving the room a slightly dim look, but the place was still a homey as always. The walls were painted a warm melon, which soothed Emma, even though she suspected asylums probably had similarly colored walls. It helped that the house smelled like cinnamon.

Granny looked at her. "So, your problem, I have to assume is Regina related."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "You can hear that far?"

"No, but it's midnight and you're wandering the street, crying to Ruby. You either messed up with the missus or you're avoiding messing up with the missus. What's the problem?" Granny asked.

Emma took a deep breath. "So… what I'm about to tell you has to be totally between us."

"Emma, who am I going to tell?" Granny shrugged and motioned around the room.

"It's because it's not just me. It's me and Regina. And, Regina would be really pissed if this got out." Not that Emma thought Granny would gossip about her when it came to something important. She just wanted Granny to understand how important this was.

Granny offered her one those patient smiles she assumed grandmothers offered troubled grandkids. "How about you just tell me about you first and add on whatever you need about Regina? Not that I'm going to tell. It'll just let you feel less guilty."

Emma nodded. "Okay. That makes sense. So, I'm an alpha."

Granny scoffed. "I thought you smelled off, but I'm getting on in years, so I thought my nose was going."

"No, very much an alpha and, well, alphas suck."

"Excuse you. Some of the best people I know are alphas, including me. But, what makes you say alphas suck?" Granny asked, leaning forward.

Taking a breath, Emma put her hands through her hair. "Everything. I was in an alpha group home as a teenager and they were literally the worst people ever. They fought over every goddamn thing. Always had something nasty to say. And one, to prove her fucking dominance tried to rape who she decided was the runt of us."

Granny flinched. "It wasn't you, right?"

"Oh, hell no. I'd have stabbed her ass if she tried, but I'm just saying. They have all this rage and superiority complex and feel entitled to shit."

Granny nodded. "This is true of some alphas, especially ones without any guidance. Was there anyone to help them understand what it meant to be an alpha in this group home or was it just a dumping ground?"

"Uh…" Emma scratched her chin. "More that second thing. Every now and then they'd have cops come in to talk to us, who basically told us we'd be seeing them a lot more when we turned eighteen. They weren't wrong."

"Young alphas need guidance, just as anyone does or they run the risk of going down the wrong path. Alphas are people, Emma."

"Yeah, shitty people."

"No, there are alphas who take instincts and gifts from nature and misuse them, just as bad people do. Those kids had a lot of hormones pumping through them and no one told them how to deal with it. They dealt with it the best way they could, which doesn't sound like it was the best, but they were kids. The rage you described from the group home and the alphas trying to dominate each other is a misuse of an alphas instinct to protect their own."

Emma scoffed. "How?"

"You feel a powerful rage whenever someone or something threatens those you care about, right?" Granny asked.

Emma shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She would not call it a "rage," but Heaven help whoever tried to go after her people. But, she did not think that was really an alpha thing. After all, if someone or thing went after Regina's loved ones, there would be no help and Regina was not an alpha. She did not have alpha instincts or alpha hormones.

"This comes from a place of protection. Alphas want to protect those they care about. But, it sounds like the alphas in your group home didn't have anyone to care about, so they put those natural desires toward protecting things that became important in their environment. Their reputation became something to care about. Whatever personal possessions they had became important."

"So, that makes it okay?"

Granny held up a hand. "Of course not. I'm just telling you how those alphas might've ended up that way. There's also the added bit of nature that alphas hate to appear weak. This comes down to a simple thing that we want to attract a mate. We want our mate to know we can protect them, so you need to show your strength. In the wrong environment, this could get corrupted. Hell, even in the right environment it can get corrupted because sometimes we alphas buy our own societal bullshit."

"But, it's not societal. Alphas suck," Emma replied.

"No, it is societal and you've internalized all the things society has told you is horrible about alphas. You've accepted that alphas are supposed to be big and bad. You've accepted alphas are supposed to dominate the space and lord over everybody. You hate yourself because you hate what society has told you what you should be. I know what that's like." Granny shrugged.

"Because of the whole werewolf thing?" Emma could only wonder what that was like. Granny was not born a werewolf like Ruby was. Granny was attacked and failed to fend off an omega werewolf. Emma was not sure how that would play out in modern society, but she could guess how it went back in "the Old World."

Granny nodded. "I was messed up over that for a while because I couldn't protect myself. I wasn't the strongest of the strong. I thought I failed as an alpha. I thought it meant I'd fail my family. I thought it meant I was less than nothing because I couldn't live up to the alpha standards. Society pushes the idea that a proper alpha can take anything that comes at them. I couldn't. It took me a long time to come to grips with it. You sound like you have to come to grips with being an alpha in general and it's because you've decided to use a narrow definition of alpha and to only accept the negative. Imagine if you did that with omegas."

Emma winced. Maybe she kind of did. Maybe she had absorbed more stereotypes and prejudice than she ever considered. She never judged omegas or betas on their status, only alphas. But, she still let the fact that someone was an omega or beta sort of color her vision of them in terms of the things they did, but she did not assume the worst about omegas or betas. She did not understand why intellectually she knew a person was not automatically bad for being an alpha, but could not let the feeling go.

Granny gave her that patient smile again. "You know as well as I that your status doesn't determine the type of person you are. But, you've been bombarded with all of this stuff from society and you didn't have anyone or anything to counter it, so now it's part of you."

Emma sighed. "How…" She licked her lips. "How do I get over it?" It would help her relationship, but it would also help her and she knew that was what Regina wanted more than anything else. And, she wanted it, too. She did not want to be weighed down by thoughts and beliefs she knew were wrong.

"Well, the first step is always admitting you have a problem. Back when I was attacked and hating myself over it, I eventually understood there was nothing I could do and the only reason I thought there was is because society had me believing alphas should be able to take on any enemy, even a damned werewolf. What truths do you have to face?"

Emma rubbed her chin. "I guess I have to eventually admit to myself all alphas aren't pure evil and I'm not the worst because I am an alpha."

"You aren't the worst. You think this town would love if you were the worst?"

Emma shrugged. "They love my mom and while I love her silly ass, too, she isn't the best."

Granny's eyes twinkled with amusement. "That's whole different matter. You've earned their love, worked very hard for it. Beyond that, you've got your son. Do you think he'd love you if you were the worst?"

Emma twisted her mouth up. If she stopped and thought about it, no, Henry would not love her if she was the worst. He would have called her on it a long time ago, like he did when she lied about Neal. She could not even say what did Henry know to brush it off. He was surrounded by not only alphas, but also very clear definitions of "the worst."

"Go home, Emma. Have this conversation with the person it matters with," Granny said.

Emma nodded. "You're right, about that, but also about everything."

"You probably knew, but needed to hear it from another source."

"A trusted source that's almost like the grandmother I never had."

A true smile lit up Granny's face. "Then, I'm glad I could be of service."

They both stood up at the same time and Granny gave Emma a hug. It was in that moment that Emma realized how close she was to Granny, even though they did not spend time together often. It was just that Granny treated her the same as Ruby when they did interact. It was like Granny accepted her in their family.

"Thank you for being there for me. It means more than you'll ever know," Emma said in a low tone.

"It's a pleasure. You're a good person, Emma. Now, if only you and Ruby could act like you're good people," Granny replied with a grin.

Emma laughed and with that she was on her way. She was not sure what she would say to Regina, but it felt like this talk was a long time coming, maybe even longer than their relationship. Maybe this was something building from the time Emma was fourteen.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Emma tries to set things right.


	4. Ebb and Flow

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

4: Ebb and Flow

Regina sat on the sofa, a cup of tea in front of her, waiting for Emma. She was still angry, but she was also concerned. Why did Emma still think so poorly of herself? _I feel like we haven't moved forward a step when she gets like this and it isn't healthy for her_. It definitely was not healthy for Regina, as the stress gnawed at her insides. _I always knew she'd give me an ulcer_.

Why did Emma still carry around these stereotypes of not just herself, but also omegas? Their existence alone should have been enough proof for Emma to believe the world did not know what it was talking about. She had lived in both worlds, as two sexes, and she was certain society never knew as much as it liked to pretend. Emma should know the same.

What if it was more than that? Like her, Emma had lived a rather miserable life. It was hard to accept when things were going well. Sometimes, it was impossible to ruin it in some way. She did not think Emma would do that, but she knew it could happen. Still, she hoped that their good life would touch something inside of Emma to get her to simply welcome what they had. Regina had done that. _People are different_.

She sipped the tea, even though it was still too hot. The burn on her tongue barely registered to her as she caught a glimpse of her ring again. Her heart thumped in her chest and she could feel something swell within her. It felt good, like a mix of love and pride. Despite all of Emma's hang-ups, she managed the courage to propose. That had to mean something. Maybe underneath it all, Emma understood it was all right for her to be happy, for them to be happy. It was hard, though, especially when they were both used to everything crumbling before them.

"What if this is the point it crumbles?" Regina wanted to bite her tongue the second she voiced that fear. _As Emma would say, famous last words_.

If Emma could not overcome her troubles, it would keep coming up until it pulled them apart. It possibly already started as usually Regina handled these things much better. Now, her patience was thinning and she knew how her temper could ruin her life… and the lives of others.

"No, I won't let things come to that. I won't lose this," Regina said aloud, wanting it to be as real as the other thoughts she said out loud.

Regina would fight for Emma, but she was not sure how hard Emma would fight, not with such self-hatred in her heart. When would they get to the point where Emma decided she did not deserve any of this because she was an alpha or was not alpha enough and she bowed out? She could not force Emma to stay with her. That was not love and she loved Emma with all of her heart. _Yes, but how much does that mean?_

She did not want to think about her heart or what was going on with her heart. There were still black portions and there probably always would be. But, that did not stop her from loving Emma with everything inside of her. Sometimes, love meant pain and Emma had the power to cause her great pain.

A frown cut so deep across her face, Regina could feel it dig into her cheeks. It probably etched permanent lines there. _Of course it would be Emma to give me age lines_. Putting her tea down, she rubbed her engagement ring with her right thumb. There was no way she could let this go and there was no way Emma could let this go.

"No, she wants this as much as I do. I can't imagine being without her. I can't see her leaving me, or Henry, or our family in general," Regina said, saying it aloud with the hopes that would make her believe it even more.

Regina had known for a long time that Emma was it for her. They might never get married or exchange mating marks, but Emma was it. There would be no one after her because no one would be able to match her. Did that mean Emma was perfect? No. But, she was willing to accept Emma's faults and help her deal with them when Emma was ready for that.

But, was Emma ever going to be ready? Emma was ready to begin a new journey with her into marriage, but still could not accept the idea that Regina was all right with being an omega, at least around her. Still, Emma held onto all of these prejudices about omegas and thinking it was wrong for Regina to fall into any category, as that would make her a stereotype and that was apparently the worst thing Regina could possibly be. And, of course, Emma had to deal with being an alpha.

Regina had to massage her temple for a moment as a long sigh escaped her. "Emma and being an alpha." That might eventually give her an aneurism.

She could understand Emma's problems with being an alpha. Life had not been kind to her in general, but got even worse after she presented. Alphas had not been kind people to her and she seemed to become hyper-aware of them after she presented. She seemed to think she carried all of the badness of every alpha she ever encountered inside of her, along with any bad thing society claimed alphas did. Even Regina did not know where to begin deconstructing that.

She took another sip of tea and wished it was something stronger. She doubted being drunk would help, though, not if Emma came back tonight. She was fairly confident Emma would return soon enough, which was why she waited up. It was not a long wait.

When she heard the door open and close, she was a little surprised Emma had the presence of mind to take her keys when she bolted out. Emma appeared in the living room entryway, hands tucked into her front pockets and a sheepish look on her face, mouth pulled to the side and eyes down. She looked like she did when she did something silly, like the day she came home with all of the scratches on her face from apparently chasing a chupacabra.

"Can I sit down?" Emma asked, voice low and she twisted her mouth to one side again after the question finished.

"Of course."

Emma slowly stepped forward, eyes watching Regina as if she expected something to happen. Regina could not imagine what Emma thought she might do. Emma eased down on the couch, sitting as far away from Regina as possible while still being on the sofa. Regina resisted taking a sip of her tea. Emma rubbed her palms together and took a deep breath.

"Um… Before anything else, I want to say I'm really sorry I spoiled the night," Emma said.

"You didn't spoil the night unless you're planning to take the ring back," Regina replied. The argument was inevitable, so she would not let it ruin the night or the memory.

Emma straightened, eyes wide. "I didn't even think about that. You still want it, right?" Her mouth trembled.

"Of course." Regina could hardly believe that was a question. "One argument has never broken us."

A small, half-smile tugged on Emma's face before her expression dropped. "That's true and it's good. Real good. Um… I'm sorry about what I said, too."

"I can't tell you it's all right because it's not." Their relationship was sustained through truth, even hard truth.

"I know." Emma took a deep breath and scrubbed her face with her hands. "I got a stern talking to, but there was more than that. Walking back home, I kinda realized I have way more issues than I ever imagined."

"Did the walk back help you realize that or the stern talking to?" Regina hoped it was the former, as Emma needed to have a break through on her own. The latter had happened several times before and did not seem to get through to Emma. Of course, most of those talks had been from her. Maybe someone else tonight took the reins and got through to Emma.

Emma shrugged. "Both, I guess. I mean, Granny helped set me straight to get me to thinking."

"Of course you went to see her." Regina was happy Emma went somewhere she might actually get some wisdom.

"Well, I went to Ruby, but Ruby pointed me in Granny's direction."

"Good for her."

"Yeah, so I was thinking about all my issues on my way back here. I mean, I know the abandonment thing is there all the time, but I didn't realize how much I internalized my hatred of alphas or how much I believe in stereotypes, even though I should know better. I think I keep bringing up you being such a great omega because I don't feel like I deserve you. Not just because I'm me, but because I'm an alpha." Emma tapped herself in the chest.

Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _I could've told you that months ago_. In fact, she had told Emma that months ago. Emma or Zelena would drive her insane over their sex status issues. If only they took a moment and listened to her, she might be able to help them move forward. She drank some of her tea to keep any bitterness out of her voice.

"You do realize that's like you saying you don't deserve me because you're blond, right?" Regina asked, easing her teacup back onto the saucer on the coffee table.

Emma frowned and cracked her knuckles, as if she needed to do something with her hands. "I know. It's a lot to realize."

Regina rubbed her temples again. "We've talked about this, though. I don't understand what else I can say to help you through." It was bugging the hell out of her. _I should be able to get through to the woman I want to marry, after all_.

Emma shook her head. "I need you to keep doing what you do. I want to get better for me, for us, for our family. I'm stuck in this place while you and Henry have moved forward."

Regina nodded, as there was nothing else for her to do. Emma was essentially in the same place as Zelena, despite her efforts to get them both in different mindsets. They hated their statuses and had internalized much of the hatred. The only difference was that Zelena openly insulted all things omega. Emma ate it and maybe it settled somewhere inside of her, becoming part of her. Both were equally bad. _I have to make sure Henry never gets to this point_.

"Emma…" Regina moved until she was next to Emma. She grabbed Emma's hands and held them in her lap, ignoring the slight shake in them. "You are a good person. It's not in spite of being an alpha. Again, that's like saying you're a good person in spite of being blond."

Emma inhaled and let out a trembling breath. "I just…" She shook her head. "I'm scared I might be like all those alphas I saw and every time I watch you be all omega and whatever, I get scared we can't escape our nature. I don't even think I realize it, but that's why I keep bringing up you being this perfect omega. It's like even you who had been able to pull off being the Alpha of Alphas is actually just an omega."

Regina's upper lip curled. "Just an omega?" _Stay calm. Do not explode. It won't help_.

Emma shook her head. "I don't mean it how it sounds, but like even you eventually turned into what society said we are. I dunno." Emma pulled a hand away to scratch her forehead and then put her hand through her hair before settling it back in Regina's lap. "I'm just… eventually gonna be an asshole alpha."

"You have never been an asshole alpha. Maybe a plain asshole."

Emma forced out a laugh. "You're the one who's an asshole. But, that's in general, not because you used to be an alpha. Although, I'm sure that's partly because you used to be an alpha."

Regina gave her a soft smile. "We are who we make ourselves, my love. If I was always the little omega society told me to be, I wouldn't have become the Evil Queen. I wouldn't be able to be mayor. Those are just ideas used to hold people back or used to justify violence. We make ourselves."

Emma's chin wobbled, like she was holding back tears. "I want to believe that."

"You are a prime example of how we make ourselves. If you were what society had said, you'd be in prison still. You'd have probably killed someone at this point."

"Cruella."

A scoff very nearly escaped Regina, but she caught it in time. She could not make light of something like that, as Emma felt that death down to her soul, as she should. Emma was a good person and Cruella backed her into a corner, so to speak. "She threatened your son, Emma. That's a better reason than most. Believe me, I know."

Emma's face twisted as if she chewed on something tough. "Alpha instincts made me do that."

"No, parenting instincts made you do that. How do you think you would feel if you didn't do that and she came right back and did her worst to Henry? And considering the fact that she's a sociopathic serial killer, I think we can assume her worst to be bad. Something we wouldn't want to happen to our child," Regina said.

Emma rubbed her forehead. "Still. The thing is I feel like old me would've found a different way."

"Old you also didn't have a son to worry about." Regina knew Emma would do anything to keep Henry safe. How did she know that? Because Emma was fully willing to let her unleash her evil inside if necessary to get him back in Neverland. Cruella had miscalculated, thinking Emma was her mother. Instead, Emma was Emma.

Emma took a deep breath. "I don't want to become one of _those_ alphas and I feel like I have that in me."

Regina patted Emma's hand. "You have a lot of things in you, Emma. We all do. But, it's up to you to decide what you want to bring out. You've always brought forth your best qualities."

Emma arched an eyebrow. "Always?"

Now, Regina could not hold back. She gave a small smile. "Most of the time, but you're only human. If you can love me knowing all I've done, you should be able to love yourself knowing all that you've done. You're nothing like these alphas you fear. Do you have a temper? We all do. You keep yours in check better than others, myself included of course. You don't want to dominate anyone, though. Hell, you like being dominated."

Emma scoffed, like that was not true. Regina released Emma's hands, crawled into her lap, and leaned in hard, pressing her body against Emma. Before Emma realized what was happening, Regina had a hand to her throat and applied the tiniest bit of pressure with her thumb. She could feel Emma twitch against her, so she gazed at Emma with a little smoke and venom in her eyes. An almost inaudible moan escaped Emma and Regina smirked.

"Okay, to be fair, you're fucking hot when you do this," Emma said.

"Only to you, my dear." Regina rocked against Emma, just to help relax her.

Emma groaned, shifted, and her hands went to Regina's ass. Regina allowed it. She did not want to fight. She wanted to help Emma through this.

"I think you have to start making a conscious effort to accept who you are. Accept what you like, even if you need to categorize it as alpha or non-alpha behavior. I made peace long ago that I like cooking, but it goes deeper than that. I like making potions and believe it or not, in this world, I earned a chemistry degree. I like sciences and cooking could be considered a type of science."

Emma's eyes went wide. "You're a science nerd? I never would've guessed it."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Anyway. You act like you're not a nerd in your own right. At least I own it." Well, she owned some of it.

Emma scrunched up her face. "Like you think I should do for my alpha qualities."

"I think you should do it for things you enjoy, regardless of if they fit a stereotype or not. For example, you like the muscle you managed to put on, right?"

"Yeah." Emma glanced down at herself, even though she was fully covered. The muscles were there regardless and they were nice.

"We both know it's due to exercising more and being off your beta drugs. You wouldn't be built like this if you weren't an alpha, though. Your body's trying to reshape itself into what it would've been if you hadn't done drugs. It's not over the top like some alphas, but it is due to you being an alpha. Own it." She was certain that was the first step for Emma, accepting she had some alpha qualities she liked. Then, they could talk about qualities she had that were unique to her. Eventually, they would hopefully be able to discuss alpha qualities she had that she did not like and she would be able to live with that knowledge without thinking she was the worst human being to ever exist.

Emma nodded. "I like how I look, even though I liked how I looked before. I think the fact that I know you like it helps me like it, even though it gets me stuck in the alpha/omega infinity loop."

"Own it, my love. Own it. It doesn't matter if I like it. I liked you just the way you were, too. I'll also like you when you put on all the weight we both know is going to happen because you still eat five donuts in the morning."

"Hey, don't knock my donuts. And, I'm down to one thank you very much."

"Be that as it may, own that you like your body now. It's okay."

Emma inhaled deeply and released the breath. "I like my little bit of muscle mass."

"That's good. It's a small step. Now, admit you like your job, as a sheriff, not as a savior."

"I do like my job. You know, it never occurred to me that it is kinda alpha centered. I really like my job, though."

"I know you do. Also, own that you like to punch things to solve problems," Regina said.

Emma groaned. "Oh, that's really alpha, isn't it?"

"I like to think of it as really Emma. You like to punch first and ask questions later. It could be a product of your upbringing, it could be your alpha hormones, who knows. You just need to own it."

Emma slumped a little. "Fine. I'll own it because I do like to punch problems in the face. Fine." She grumbled, but there was a little smile on her face.

Regina resisted the urge to give Emma a tiny kiss for her effort. "Anything else you want to own right now?"

Emma's smile grew. "You mean beside your ass?" Of course, a squeeze to her ass followed the question.

Regina sighed. "I should've seen that coming. I need you to not deflect with humor right now. This is to help you become comfortable of yourself."

Emma nodded and leaned in for a kiss. "That was okay, right?"

Regina cupped her face with both hands. "It will always be okay for you to kiss me or come to me for comfort, regardless of if we had an argument or not. I love you and I always will. Now, anything else you'd like to own right now other than my ass?"

"Well, we have an awesome kid."

"That we do and that's thanks to you being an alpha and me being an omega."

Emma nodded and gnawed her bottom lip for a moment. "That's all I can think of for now."

"It's more than enough. Are you ready for bed or do you want something to eat?"

"I think I just want to go to bed now. I feel a lot better now."

Regina nodded and eased off of Emma's lap. She knew Emma was drained for the simple fact that she did not complain about Regina getting off of her. She took Emma by the hand and led her upstairs. She went to bed, but Emma went to the bathroom.

"You want any help?" Regina offered. She had already taken a shower.

"No. This is gonna be quick."

Regina took Emma at her word and turned down the bed. As she heard the shower water turn on, she settled on her side, waiting and wondering. Would this be the time Emma finally understood her sexual status did not define her as a person? Would this be the time she accepted Regina was not ruined for doing "omega" things? She could only hope.

She could not imagine how things would be once Emma got her act together, but she figured Emma would at least be happier with herself. And maybe it would not outwardly show, but she knew for a fact, Emma would feel better on the inside. Emma deserved that much. Emma deserved peace of mind.

"And I want to help get her there," Regina said. She was not sure if that was selfish or not, but it was her desire.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma planned to be in the shower for a couple of minutes, just wanting to wash away the emotional upheaval of the night. She expected to feel tired under the hot spray, but she felt unburdened for the first time in a long time. Regina had not taken off her ring, even though they had an argument right after the engagement. If this was a year ago, Regina would have thrown the ring in her face the second things got heated. Regina had grown. She should be able to do the same.

"No, not should. I _need_ to be able to do the same. I can't be the same person I was at the start of this relationship when Regina's evolved. Our whole relationship has evolved. Hell, our son has evolved. I gotta do better," Emma said aloud, hoping that made it stick.

Then, her mind circled back to the fact that Regina was wearing her ring. Regina had said yes. Regina wanted to marry her, wanted her forever, wanted what they had forever. That was more than enough to work on herself.

"She wants to be with me. She wants me, despite it all," Emma said, in awe of this reality. How was this reality?

Emma had felt like that before, like reality was not real. It happened when a little boy popped up at her door, claiming to be her son. She was skeptical until Regina opened the door and Emma was still surprised she had not fainted. The most beautiful woman she had ever seen and somehow managed to spend the night with had given birth to her kid. The alpha in her wanted to puff out of her chest and crow.

"Guess I should own that, too. I don't mind," she decided. She had the woman of her dreams and they were going to get married. They had a family. It was the best and she appreciated it.

Emma washed up and brushed her teeth. She wrapped herself in a towel before going into the bedroom. She was not surprised to see Regina tucked in already, waiting for her. She stared for a moment. Should she just go to bed naked? It was tempting and it was not in a sexual way. There was an urge to feel Regina against her. She went with that, casting the towel aside and sliding into bed with brown eyes locked on her.

"Don't worry. I'll pick the towel up in the morning," Emma said.

"I wasn't thinking of that. Would you like me to be nude as well?" Regina asked.

"Only if you want to. I think I need to feel you against me without my clothes, but you should be okay."

Regina shook her head and wasted no time taking her slip off. Emma smiled to herself. Regina was always willing to help her, make her comfortable. This woman was so amazing. She was more than worth trying to get over phobias and bias, especially the internalized ones.

"Do you want to spoon?" Regina asked.

"Um… I dunno." Emma felt out of sorts, maybe a little overwhelmed. It did not help that they did not spoon. They often cuddled and snuggled and everything, but they moved too much to spoon for long.

Regina pressed against her side. "How about this?"

Emma sighed as she put her arm around Regina's shoulders. "This is good." Whenever they laid like this, with no barriers between them, it settled everything inside of Emma. She could ingest what happened tonight, digest it, hopefully let the advice become a part of her, and plan how to act accordingly.

"Good enough for you to go to sleep?"

"Yeah." She took a long inhale of Regina's hair. The smell calmed her as always, reminded her she was home. She had a home. Regina and Henry had given her a home and peace of mind. She owed it to all of them to work through her issues to make this the best home it could possibly be.

Regina placed a soft kiss to her chin. "You want to talk about what's on your mind?"

Emma pulled Regina a closer. "I can't really talk about it. You know my mind is always jumbled for a while before I can even make sense of it. Takes a while to be able to put stuff into words."

Regina caressed her side. "I know. It's all right."

Even that little thing filled Emma with more emotion than she expected. Regina had learned so much about her in their short time together. Well, was a year a short time? Either way, in the beginning of their official relationship, Regina would have been hurt by what just happened, would have questioned if Emma trusted her. Now, she understood Emma's mind worked much slower than others when she got time to think things over.

Holding Regina close, smelling her wonderful, comforting scent, was almost enough to cause Emma to overflow. She was not sure what she would overflow with, but she felt full to the brim with something. Maybe love. Affection. Acceptance. Home. All of the above? Regina reached out and grabbed Emma's free hand. Emma smiled, even though she was a little sad knowing they would not wake up like this.

"Emma, I love you," Regina said through a yawn.

"I know. I love you, too." Emma kissed the top of Regina's head. "Go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." She was not going to run anymore, even if they have an argument.

"Yes, because you'll need breakfast."

Emma chuckled. "Well, yeah, but also because I'm going to grow up. I'm going to evolve just like everybody else in this family… except Zelena, who will always be a brat."

"You leave my sister alone or I'll start talking about your mother."

"That's low, babe. You never talk about mothers, especially when mine gives you so much fuel."

Regina laughed, which Emma more felt vibrate against her than heard. They were silent for a long moment and then Emma glanced down to see Regina had fallen asleep. This allowed her to realize how much of a toil their argument and her fleeing caused Regina. Neither of them fell asleep quickly unless they were dead tired.

"I'm sorry I keep putting you through these things. I get this shows how much you love me because you're just waiting patiently for me to get my shit together. Even after all of this, you still agreed to marry me, be my wife, be my mate. God, you're so fucking amazing," Emma whispered.

Part of her quivered with the notion of not deserving Regina, but she fought it down. She had to let thoughts like that go. It was not about deserving. Regina wanted her and she wanted Regina. That was what mattered. She had to tell herself that until she believed it so much it drowned out any negative thoughts because she did believe it. She had to tell herself that until not deserving Regina was not even a thought.

Beyond that, it was time to grow. It was time to take responsibility. She should have done this a long time ago. She had a pup to worry about, wanted more pups. She could not be a mess in her head with a kid, or kids. She would lean on Regina too much to raise their kids, which she kind of did with Henry. At least she felt that way. After all, she probably would not have been able to talk to Henry had he presented as an alpha like Regina had with him being an omega. Regina would have handled the talk regardless.

Emma frowned. "Why do you put up with me? I got you raising Henry pretty much on your own, even with my dumbass right here. I'm so sorry."

Despite all of that, Regina wanted to be with her. Emma could hardly understand it, but it settled in her stomach. It was heavy, but somehow a good kind of heavy. It was like something that anchored her, but would also give her the kick in the butt she needed. This was the first day of something new, better, and it went well beyond Regina saying yes.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the couple take another step forward in their relationship, more by accident than anything else.


	5. Seeking Out Higher Ground

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

A/N: some sexy times ahead, folks. And, something nonconsensual that gets retro-consent. Please, remember consent is cool.

5: Seeking Out Higher Ground

Emma woke up the feel of Regina's lips to her neck, which was beyond pleasant considering the sleep she had after the emotional night they both had. She had been haunted with nightmares, thanks to her burdened mind. Regina probably sensed that somehow. _Well, more like felt if I tossed and turned like I usually do with damn nightmares_.

"Good morning," Emma said, her voice rough with sleep. Her hands found Regina's back, caressing the smooth skin. She wished she had a longer reach.

"I'm sure it is. You were so tense when I woke up," Regina replied, hand caressing Emma's side.

Emma did not doubt that. Images of Regina leaving her, of her hurting Henry, of her hurting Regina had been all she saw in her sleep. Everything that insisted she was a horrible alpha flashed in her mind while she was asleep and she would not have been surprised to wake up alone. Surely if she knew she was terrible, Regina was more than aware. Instead, she woke up to soft kisses and the warm press of Regina's form. It felt a lot like love.

"Nightmares," Emma answered. _Nightmares I thought were true, but suddenly they feel like illusions. Regina loves me and wouldn't let me hurt her, wouldn't let me be horrible. Henry would never love me if I was horrible_.

"I thought as much, but you're awake now." Regina kissed her neck again and bore down on Emma, making her groan. Emma was awake in more places than one.

"And you're here." She was glad she did not sound as surprised as she felt, even though she would have been able to blame the nightmares.

"Always." Regina sat up, enough where she seemed like she might entertain Emma with a ride. Emma would be more than grateful.

Emma sat up a little as Regina slowly dragged her fingers down Emma's mouth. Emma kissed her fingertips and Regina pulled her hand back. It was then that Emma caught a glimpse on Regina's finger. Images of Regina flinging the ring at her flashed through her mind. _Nightmares. Only nightmares_. The glint of her ring, still at home, still where it belonged, made her whole being swell.

Emma shot up, causing a gasp to fall from Regina's lips. Emma practically swallowed the sound, as she rushed in for a kiss and flipped them over. Regina moaned and clung to her back. Emma could feel the press of the ring, leaving a small indent in her flesh, marking her, reminding her. It felt like the ring burned into her, pressed into her soul, filling her with… It seemed like something more than love. What could be more than love?

"I'm here," Regina whispered to her, rubbing her shoulders.

Each touch seemed to push more and more inside of Emma. She was not sure how she could feel so much and not explode, experience so much and know there was still more. But, such a little, light touch felt like it held a whole universe.

"I'm always here," Regina promised and, with her ring digging into Emma's back, Emma could only believe her.

Emma did not have a response, beyond _needing_ another kiss. She needed to feel Regina right now like she needed to breathe air. Pushing Regina into the mattress, feeling her skin, it was like being wrapped in Regina. It was like everything she needed to live. _Maybe that's what's more than love. Regina_.

Her hands went for Regina's breasts, kneading them just the way she knew Regina liked, but also filling her hands to remind herself Regina was with her until the end. The nightmares were just that, nightmares. Regina said yes. Regina wanted her and knew she was not the horrible alpha she feared she was. Regina even offered her advice on how to get over that idea. Regina believed in her in ways no other person had. It was not because she was some prophesied savior or child of True Love or anything. It was because she was Emma.

"Emma," Regina breathed, sounding like pleasure itself, and spread wider, trying to pull Emma closer.

Emma tugged on both of Regina's nipples before letting a hand slid down her belly, going past faint stretch marks. She wanted to kiss them, but kissed Regina's cheek, jaw, and neck inside. She could feel Regina's heart flutter under her lips as her fingers caressed those beautiful signs that their son had once been there. Regina loved her enough to have her child. She needed another kiss and Regina gave her just what she needed, as always. As their lips and tongues caressed, Emma's fingers wandered across Regina's abdomen, blindly tracing faded stretch marks. _Perfect. Beautiful. All I need_.

She paused right below Regina's navel. She knew she could go on if she chose to, but she needed the verbal confirmation right now. She needed to see she was not like some entitled alpha, but also that Regina wanted her enough to help her get better mentally and accept who she was. No one had ever done that. Most people in her life tried to take advantage of her or turn her into someone they thought she should be, anywhere in between a criminal and a savior.

"Yes, Emma, please." Regina whined in her ear, arching up.

The sound sent shivers throughout Emma's already overcharged body. Dipping her fingers lower, she hissed as Regina's passion greeted her. Regina moved her hips to meet Emma and Emma found herself panting before anything really happened. Somehow, this was overwhelming, more than it had ever been.

Emma held her breath as she eased into Regina with two fingers. Regina's breath hitched and she pulled Emma closer as she arched into the intrusion. It felt like energy poured out of Regina into Emma, burning every inch of her, but in the best way. Pumping her fingers, feeling Regina ripple around her, trying to take her deeper, Emma felt lost in the universe, but found at the same time. Maybe the universe centered around Regina. At the moment, that made perfect sense to her.

And despite having the universe at her fingertips, Emma wanted to feel more of it, to take in more of it. She kissed Regina's mouth, but before that got heated, dragged her teeth down Regina's chin and throat as she curled her fingers, pumping just right. The whine that escaped Regina practically frolicked through every inch of Emma.

"More," Regina said, bucking against her.

Emma obliged, slipping in another finger and going from a gentle, easygoing pace to something a little more frantic. The bite of Regina's nails in her shoulders added to the feeling of being lost in something vast. _This is our love_. The expanding force she floated through was their love for each other. She curled her fingers once again and Regina pulsed, clinging around the digits and clutching Emma's back.

"Emma…" Regina hooked a leg around Emma's waist, tugging her even closer.

Emma nodded, knowing what Regina required, what they both required. Emma eased her fingers out and gripped her throbbing length, stroking it, wetting herself with Regina's desire, which mixed with her own. Regina groaned, possibly disappointed, which Emma could not live with, especially right now as her body hummed for her lover. She lined up with Regina, who sat up enough to see what was happening. They locked eyes and somehow Emma felt even more emotion rush through her. This was bigger than the universe. They, together, were grander than all of space. She pushed inside and leaned down, needing to kiss Regina again.

"Yes," Regina said before their lips pressed against each other.

Emma slid into Regina and whatever energy had been buzzing into her from Regina, overloading her, felt like it had reached capacity. It caused Emma's hips jolt and spring forward at full speed. She hammered into Regina, who squeezed her biceps and kept her close to continue their kiss. Regina moaned into her mouth, adding to this thing that was already a great deluge. A flood, never-ending. Emma could feel everything inside of her breaking apart, but it was necessary. This barrage, this expanse would her big bang. It would create a whole new universe inside of her, all thanks to this wonderful woman holding onto her as if she was everything.

The avalanche inside of her rushed out and Emma would have probably been embarrassed by how quickly she came if she had the brain power to devote to such thought. As it was, all she could do was experience the pleasure, adoration, and torrent pouring out of her. Her knot soon followed and Regina's body accepted it as readily as always, like Regina herself accepting Emma with all her faults, and that was the breaking point. It was all too much.

Emma broke their kiss, needing to let loose a roar that was probably too loud for this early in the morning. It did not matter. Her head dropped to Regina's neck, right where it met her shoulder, and before she knew who she was or what was going on, her teeth sank in. Regina cried out, also louder than the morning called for, and grabbed Emma tighter. This only made Emma bite down harder. The taste of Regina's blood nipped at her tongue, which somehow made her body explode more, if that was even a thing. She had become a star, gone supernova, and collapsed into a black hole all at the same time.

Time had passed, but Emma would never be sure how much. Emma came back into herself to hear Regina panting in her ear like she had just run the mile in a minute. She was about to comment on how intense that was when she realized her mouth was sucking on Regina's shoulder and there was a familiar metallic taste on her tongue. _Oh, shit! _Emma pulled away, eyes going immediately to Regina's face.

"I'm so fucking sorry!" Emma could not believe she did that! After all this crap about her not being like the alphas she was so scared of, she had taken liberties with Regina's body right after they talked about this. "Fuck!" She tried to jump out of bed, but she was tied to Regina.

Regina hissed. "Emma…" Her face twisted and she gritted her teeth.

"Fuck, sorry. Forgot." She could not just rip herself away from Regina with her knot there. Unless, of course, she wanted to hurt Regina even more. She hung her head. "I'm so fucking stupid." The nightmares were right. They were true. _Fuck, you're going to lose everything because you're a stupid fucking alpha asshole! _The very thought hurt her chest and she was certain her ribs were about to cave in and destroy everything inside of her.

Regina sighed and cupped Emma's cheeks with both hands. She turned Emma's head toward her until they were looking at each other. To her credit, Regina did not look enraged, infuriated, or even upset. Maybe she was so angry, she had gone straight to calm? It was known to happen and it was the scariest thing. _Oh, she's going to kill me while I'm freaking knotted inside of her_. Honestly, there were worst ways to go and she could not think of anyone more deserving of ending her life. _Hopefully, I'll at least get some last words and I did get to see her naked one last time_.

"Don't freak out, my love," Regina said.

The term of endearment helped settle Emma. "You're… you're not mad?"

"I have no reason to be upset."

Emma scrunched up her face. "But, I bit you."

"I am aware. It's all right." Regina sounded rather serene, like she really was not upset. Hell, she sounded rather all right with it, like she said.

Emma's brain could not process why Regina was not angry. This was nonconsensual. This was wrong. "But… I didn't ask you. I just did it. And, we talked about marks after marriage. This is all wrong!"

"Hey, stay with me." Regina gave her cheeks a little squeeze. "It's fine. You clearly got wrapped up in everything. You're feeling your emotions very deeply after last night and a fitful sleep. It's okay."

"How is this okay? This is so far from okay!" Emma wanted to rip out of her skin to get out of this and punish herself. How could she do this to the woman she more than loved? _I'm so freaking worthless!_

"It isn't far from okay. It's perfectly fine. Like I said, you got wrapped up. It's fine. I'm proud to wear your mark."

Emma blinked, certain she heard wrong. "You… you are?"

Regina offered her a lovely smile, something the sun would have been so jealous of. "I am. Just as I'm proud to wear your ring, I'm proud to bear your mark. I am yours, Emma." Regina stroked her cheeks. "My heart, my body, my soul is all yours. Everything is connected to you, tied up in you. Never apologize for showing me that you're emotional over me."

Emma sniffled, tears burning her eyes. What had she done to cross paths with Regina and end up here? She did not know, but she was so grateful she did whatever the hell it was. "I love you so much and I felt like it was all so much and I didn't know how to do anything about it. I didn't know I would do anything about it."

"It's fine. It's actually a little romantic." Regina smiled.

Emma's brow furrowed. "Romantic?" How was her taking liberties on Regina romantic? She was lucky Regina was so hung up on her that she thought things like this was okay.

Regina caressed her cheek with her fingertips. "You were so overcome with your love for me that you marked me. It's right out of a romance novel. Some might even find it in a fairy tale."

Emma groaned. "Please, don't say that." The fairy tale thing was annoying, but the romance novel was almost an insult. Romance novels were full of stereotypes. She did not want them to be any of those.

"I'm just saying, I don't mind. I'm pleased with this actually. It's good that we jumped right in. We might have talked around it for years, like with so many aspects of us."

Emma frowned a little, even though that rang true. Ever since they synced, they had periodically discussed when they would exchange marks. They never really pinned down when they would do it. They more talked about when they would not do it. They never wanted to do it during a sync, even though they were still coherent during the sync. They did not want to do it on an anniversary, as that seemed to take the spontaneity out of it, which they felt should come with a marking. This was spontaneous as hell.

"This wasn't a violation, right?" Emma needed to know.

Regina shook her head. "You've never in your life violated me. You know that. I don't think it's in you. Now, what's done is done. Please, make sure it doesn't fade."

Emma squinted, not sure what Regina meant at first. Regina moved a hand to play with the hair at the nape of Emma's neck before moving her hand a little higher to push Emma's head closer. Emma got the idea and latched on again. _Holy shit, this beautiful woman wants to wear my mark!_

"Yes." Regina arched into her, which drew a moan from Emma as pleasure zipped down her raw nerves.

Emma sucked on her bite mark and felt Regina spasm, apparently climaxing from that. That was a good sign for the mark. Emma groaned against Regina's skin, lapping at the wound and tasting the dots of blood still there. With each swipe of tongue, Regina moved against her, which egged her on.

Regina's skin tasted different than Emma was used to. Yes, there was the savory flavor she expected, but there was something else now. Something slightly spicy. She liked it, wanted more of it, hoped it was there to stay along with with her mark. She suckled until her knot went down and Regina collapsed against the pillows.

"Come, hold me," Regina requested… or ordered. It was hard to tell the difference, not that it mattered.

Emma eased out of Regina to change their positions, so she could hold Regina close. Regina draped herself over Emma, which Emma did not mind. In fact, she was glad for it. This made her believe Regina was very fine with everything that happened. The bite was okay. The fact that they were connected this way was okay. _Yeah, so now you definitely need to get your shit together. She's stuck with you. You owe her_.

"I love you," Regina said, snuggling into her.

"I love you, too."

"And this was fine."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, I understand that. Sorry for panicking." She ran her finger across the bite mark and Regina shuddered against her.

Regina stretched against Emma. "You don't have to keep apologizing to me, my love. The fact that you panicked only shows you respect me and my boundaries and you were scared you crossed a line. You need to understand there is no line with you. There never was."

Emma chuckled. "We do have issues with personal space. Always have."

"Exactly. So, don't worry about it." Regina let loose a low breath and closed her eyes.

Regina was asleep within seconds. Emma smiled to herself. She spent too much time in this relationship worrying about things that did not matter. Regina was her world, had given her the world, and made her the world. It was time to pay that back. It was time to let go things, ideas that did not matter.

"I'll get better," Emma vowed, stroking her mark. She looked forward to making sure the mark never faded and what it would bring to her connection with Regina, to their relationship.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina woke up for the second that morning, feeling a delightful buzz floating through her and this wonderful fuzzy feeling consumed her. It was very different from when she woke up the first time, where Emma was stiff as a board, even in her sleep, making a very poor mattress. Now, Emma was warm, soft, and Regina never wanted to get up, but she had to. Breakfast would not make itself and Zelena would be by soon enough for food and a brief rescue from single motherhood.

Henry would need to eat as well and considering how emotional Emma was when they initially woke up, she would need food as well. Thoughts of Emma and her emotions brought Regina's hand to her neck without a thought. She flinched as she came into contact with the mark. She had a mating mark. Emma loved her enough to mark her, to mate her. This was beyond her wildest fantasies.

She wanted to revel in the moment, but she did not have the time. Glancing at the clock, she saw she was already a half-hour behind schedule, even if it was Saturday. Again, breakfast would not make itself and the time would not pause for the moment either. She would have to wait until her time was her own again to marvel over her mark.

Emma made a noise as Regina eased away from her, a practiced motion. Emma tugged at her, but let her go. Emma's subconscious always seemed to know when Regina was moving with purpose or moving to just move. To let Emma know she did the right thing, Regina gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. A smile appeared on Emma's sleeping visage and Regina felt light. She would have thought it was because of the mark, but she always felt that way when she put a smile on Emma's face.

Finding her slip from last night, she put it back on and then put on her long robe. She paused at the mirror, eyes on the bite. Even if it was an accident, Emma had done her a favor. Her shirts and jackets would hide most of the mark. No, she did not care, but their relationship was private and the world did not need to know what they did. For now, she used her hair to hide the mark. She did not need to hear Zelena going on about it just yet.

With that done, she marched downstairs to begin her usual Saturday morning. She did not want to go overboard, but she already knew she was just from standing in front of the fridge. Well, they would have a breakfast buffet as she was about to cook the kitchen.

"Bloody hell, Regina," Zelena said as she appeared with her daughter as Regina stood at the stove, working on the last omelet.

"Tití!" Robbie hugged Regina around the legs.

Regina smiled, having decided when Robbie started talking that she would be "tía." Through the Curse, she had Puerto Rican heritage as it was closest to her Old World cultural background through her father. The native tongue was very close to Spanish, like the Enchanted Forest's language was close to English. She wanted to latch onto that now, to honor her father. She felt at enough peace with him, after seeing him in the underworld, to do that.

"Robbie!" Regina leaned down and wrapped her niece into tight hug. She wanted to hold Robbie forever suddenly, just press joy into the toddler.

"Have you made everything in the refrigerator?" Zelena scanned the kitchen. There was a stack of fluffy pancakes and thick waffles made. There were spinach and cheese egg white omelets along with sunny side up eggs. Toast and biscuits. Home fries. Bowls and bowls of diced fruit, either to used as toppings or someone could make their own personal fruit salad. "Do we really need three types of meat?" Bacon, sausage patties, and sausage links.

Regina shrugged. "I also have a pot of baked beans on for you." Oz apparently had a culture very similar to England and Zelena loved having baked beans with her breakfast.

"Tomatoes, too. With tea, coffee, and juice. Oh, I know something happened then. Explain." Zelena pinned her with a hard look.

Regina could have displayed her mark, but was not ready for that moment. Instead, she held up her left hand and flashed her ring. Zelena's mouth dropped open, but a sound something like a squeal escaped her throat.

"She asked you? I thought for sure you'd be the one to do the asking," Zelena said.

"I thought that as well. I've been looking for a ring, but she beat me to it," Regina replied. Maybe she would still buy Emma a ring, let her know she was appreciated and also to show Emma she was not a stereotype.

"I want to say she probably blurted it out, but she had a ring ready. She beat you because you over-plan. Now, you're a stereotype," Zelena said. "Of course, looking around the kitchen, you clearly were one before that."

"You're just upset no one is proposing to you and you have no one to purpose to." Regina was still annoyed that Zelena had such a long journey ahead of her in accepting herself. She was more opposed to it than Emma. _Thank you, Henry, for making it easy for me, just once_.

Zelena sneered, but she did not have a comeback. Instead, she busied herself by carrying food to the table. After a year, she was almost domesticated.

"Wow! What did we do to deserve this?" Henry asked as soon as he hit the dining room.

"Ask your mothers," Zelena replied.

"Mom? Ma?" Henry called.

"Stop shouting through the house before your mom blames me," Emma replied, footsteps on the stairs.

"It's your fault he's a heathen," Regina said and then she picked up Robbie. "I'll save you from all the barbarians you're related to." She kissed Robbie's cheek and tickled her chubby belly, earning high giggles from the child. Robbie's idea of escaping was to burrow deeper into Regina's body.

"Why the huge spread, though?" Henry already piled food on his plate. He had a fistful of bacon. No doubt about him being Emma's son there.

"Last night your mother asked me to marry her and I said yes," Regina answered as nonchalantly as she could.

"No way!" Henry looked at her and then looked at Emma and then back at her and then back at Emma. He could not seem to figure out where he wanted to go, but his eyes were bright and beaming. "Way to go, Ma!" He held up a hand, one not covered in bacon grease, and was granted a high-five.

"Did you have money on me?" Emma asked.

"Nope. I bet on Mom. I'm out ten bucks," Henry replied with a snicker.

Regina frowned and narrowed her eyes on Emma. "Do you see your influence? He's screaming through the house and gambling."

Emma grinned. "And you're marrying me."

Regina rolled her eyes and moved on, wanting to prepare a small plate for Robbie. Robbie was a little help, turning her nose up on things she did not want. Oatmeal with peaches and apples, along with half of a pancake was Robbie's breakfast of choice. Once Regina put Robbie in her highchair, Regina turned to get own food, but Emma had beat her to it.

"I got you, babe." Emma winked, holding up the plate with a spinach omelet covered in hot sauce along with a couple of sausage links. But, most important, her bowl of oatmeal with apples, cinnamon, and pecans.

"Thank you." Regina kissed her cheeks.

"Oh, don't make us throw up before we've even had a chance to taste breakfast," Zelena said. Henry snickered, probably in agreement with his aunt.

They had their usual family breakfast and spent Saturday together for the most part, hanging around the living room. Regina and Emma cuddled close, giving Zelena no shortage in smart remarks while they watched a movie. At one point, Regina managed to pull Emma away.

"I want to tell Henry about the mark," Regina said once they were locked away in her study.

"You sure?" Emma asked.

"Yes. I want him to know his parents are committed to each other beyond the engagement." Although, that was enough. But, Henry was more than aware an engagement or even a marriage did not mean forever. Mating marks almost always meant forever.

Emma chewed her bottom lip. "But, what if he has questions?"

"We'll answer them. He'll have questions when he notices and he's bound to notice. We live in the same house and I refuse to dress warm in my own home."

Emma nodded. "Right. Right. Okay. Once Zelena leaves, we'll tell him."

Regina smiled and the time went faster than Emma probably liked. Soon, it was just them on the sofa with Henry, who was trying to find something to watch to have an excuse to stay with them more than likely. It was sweet.

"Henry, put the remote down for a second. We need to talk to you," Regina said. Emma grabbed her hand and squeezed.

Henry listened without question. "Is this about betting on your engagement? I only did it to be included." The fact that their son was con artist with ready-made excuses for his bad behavior should trouble Regina more than it did.

Regina shook her head. "We'll talk about that some other time, after I've scolded your aunts over it, as this has Zelena and Ruby written all over it."

Henry threw his hands up. "Ma, you're a witness. I didn't say anything."

"Anyway," Regina said. "Along with the engagement, there's this." She moved her hair out of the way.

Henry blinked and then squinted as he leaned in closer, inspecting the bruise. "What am I looking at here? Did you get attacked?"

"This is a mating mark. We talked about it," Regina said.

"Okay. Yeah, I've never seen one."

"That's good. But, you remember what I told you about mating marks, yes?" Regina asked. It was a huge sub-topic of their discussion when he presented. She needed him to understand how important and binding such a mark was before he rushed into it.

Henry nodded. "It's like a marriage, but different. It's a promise of closeness forever. It's being bonded until death and most of the time beyond even that."

"Yes. So, your mother marked me," Regina said.

Henry's brow furrowed. "You marked her, too, right?"

Emma winced, but Regina spoke. "Not exactly."

Henry narrowed his gaze, reprimanding his mothers with his eyes. "This was an accident, wasn't it? Mom, after everything you told me, you let Ma mark you by accident." He wagged his finger at them and was quite serious.

"The mark is still valid. Your mother and I love each other deeply. I accepted her mark. I wanted to show you, so you understand we're serious about each other and about our family," Regina said.

"But, you let Ma mark you in the heat of the moment." Henry clicked his tongue at them. "You said that's careless and I better not do it."

"Yeah, you better not," Emma chimed in, giving Henry a hard look.

"Emma." Regina patted Emma's hand. "Henry, you have to do what's right for you and your relationship. This probably worked out best for us, as we always had excuses for when was not the best time. We are committed to each other, but we sometimes let doubts rule us. This was Emma acting on her emotions, coming straight from the heart."

Henry nodded. "Well, I'm glad for you. I'm actually glad for all of us. I think we all know I've enjoyed having both parents and us living together and all of this. Whatever keeps this all going, I'm in favor of." He smiled.

"Good." Regina held up a finger. "But, still remember what I told you before about mating marks. Even if it happens by accident, it should be with someone you've had a long and serious relationship with. You have time to change your mind, as long as you talk it over with your partner and don't let them reinforce the mark."

"Got it, Mom." Henry gave her two thumbs up, which she was not sure if it meant he understood or not. Still, it was out there. He could ask questions if he needed and he also understood his parents were in this forever.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina was rather insistent about keeping her mark, holding Emma's head to it as they lay in bed that night. Emma was not opposed to making sure the mark did not fade, sucking and nibbling the area. It might have been an accident, but she meant it with her heart and soul. The sweet sounds coming from Regina along with the exquisite taste of her beloved kept Emma there until she was panting. Regina had worked up a sweat, making her absolutely delicious and Emma hated that she needed to breathe.

"I should've gone more on the shoulder," Emma said, pausing for a breath and conversation. Her hand, palming Regina's boob, rolling her nipple. She loved the feel of Regina's skin under her fingertips, but there was something special about the texture of her nipples.

Regina purred and rubbed her bare calf against Emma's leg. "This is fine. Once it settles and heals a bit, it's just another place that will need makeup depending on what I wear. That's if I decide to cover it."

Emma held in a gasp, but looked up at her. "You'd display my mark?" The mark was personal, private. The fact that Regina was willing to let people see it, let them know Emma was her mate… it was beyond anything Emma ever imagined. _You deserve it. She chose you. She chose your mark_.

"Of course. I'm not ashamed to be your mate."

"So… you'll mark me?" Emma had no doubt eventually Regina would reciprocate, but whispers in her ear she willfully ignored tried to get to her. Regina wore her mark, so it was not outlandish to believe Regina would mark her. She could not wait.

Regina caressed her back, earning a purr. "Eventually, but not now. When I mark you, I don't want there to be a doubt in your mind as to why it's happening beyond I love you more than you'll ever know."

Emma responded to that by nipping at her mark on Regina's neck. She liked that idea. If Regina marked her now, she would only think it was because Regina did not have another choice. She had to get past that idea. Regina loved her and she knew that. She needed to open up to that idea more than she had and accept it. She looked forward to the mark, knowing it would say so much more than just they would stay together forever.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Emma celebrates with Snow and Snow does Snow things.


	6. Use of a Flotation Device

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

6: Use of a Flotation Device

Emma ambled into work with her chin held high. Regina agreed to marry her and wore her mark. Their son had blessed both. She was living the life. _Well, you'd been living the life, but it's somehow sweeter than ever before_. Part of her thought this might all be some fever dream with how crazy it was, but she knew. She was just lucky in life now.

"Someone looks like they had a good weekend," David said from his desk where he had his feet kicked up.

"Guess who proposed to the greatest woman on Earth and had her say yes." Emma pointed to herself with both thumbs.

David's eyes went wide. "You didn't!" He leaped up and charged her, grabbing her into a tight hug.

Emma laughed. "You're happy about this?" She was not surprised, but she was surprised. She was not sure how to explain it, but this was a great reaction.

"Of course I am! My daughter's marrying the love of her life and the mother of her son!" David squeezed her tight, purposely trying to hurt her ribs, which worked.

She groaned a little. "You're going to piss Regina off if you snap me in two."

David's eyes sparkled and he grinned at her. They both laughed and then he put her down. "I gotta call your mother!"

"You can't tell Mom my news!" Emma patted herself in the chest. But, then again, did she want to call her mother? She could only imagine how that phone call would go. Her mother would probably cry and that would be if she was lucky. Mentally, she groaned. _I really don't want any parts of that_.

"Oh, no! You can tell her! We gotta FaceTime her!" David pulled out his phone.

Emma had not expected her father to be so happy for her, but it made her feel good. She was not sure why. Maybe it was the parental approval she used to long for. _Do I still long for it? _She did not let the thought linger.

"Come on!" David grabbed her into a hug, holding the phone into front them. "Go ahead and tell your mother."

"Hi, Mom." Emma smiled.

"Hi, sweetie. What's going on? I'm in class. I only answered because I thought it might be an emergency," Snow replied.

"I know, but Dad's really excited because I asked Regina to marry me and she said yes…" Emma's mouth dropped open. "And, oh my god, you're going to call her right after this." She could not help face-palming. Regina was never going to forgive her for this. This was a million times worse than implying Regina agreed to marry her because of omega instincts. _I'm doomed. I'm dead_.

"Oh my god!" Snow squealed. "Proud of you, calling Regina!" She was gone before Emma could object.

"Fuck." Emma groaned behind her hand. Regina was going to poison her food tonight. Not enough to kill her, but definitely enough to have her head in a toilet for the night.

"You are screwed." David chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, like this was not all his fault.

"I gotta buy dinner tonight… and tomorrow. Maybe for the rest of the week or the rest of my life. I can get breakfast on the way here. Hmm… maybe I could just avoid the house altogether." Emma scratched her chin in thought. There had to be some way to avoid Regina's revenge. Even if she could get her own food, Regina did her laundry and might be able to do something to her clothes. _I could go back to doing my own laundry, but what else does Regina do for me? What opportunities does she have?_ All of the opportunities. Regina knew where she slept, after all.

"Your partner is a witch and you two have a weird sense thing going on, so I don't think you're going to escape, even if you leave town. Not to mention, Regina never forgets," David said.

"And she holds a grudge like no one else. I am so screwed." With a sigh, Emma rubbed her face with both hands. "Well, whatever. Regina knew I came with an annoying mother when she said yes." What else could she do beyond let it go? With luck, Regina would get bored with punishing her quickly or maybe find a fun way to punish her.

"You are engaged!" David grabbed her shoulders, gripping her tightly, purposely trying to get her to buckle under his pressure. She recognized this for the playful alpha-ness it was and laughed, but tried to get away.

"Come on!" She squirmed and managed to wiggle away. This was something she saw alpha parents do with their alpha children on television. She did not know it was a real thing until this moment and she kind of liked it. She should own it. _Yeah, all of the alpha stuff with Dad isn't so bad. Yes, it's kinda aggressive, but it's nice_. It was nice because she knew he was not seriously trying to hurt her and she knew it came from a place where he was trying to toughen her up and bond with her. He was fifteen years too late, but they could still both enjoy it.

"Ah!" David patted her in the chest pretty hard.

Emma flinched. "Ow! Come on!" She shoved him and he fell off balance, but stayed on his feet.

David bounced, practically humming with energy. "Sorry! Sorry! I'm happy for you. Can we get a beer? We should get a beer! Let's go get a beer!"

Apparently, this was not a choice and he all but pushed her out of the station. She was pleased her father was so happy for her. She did not expect David to be so geared up for her engagement.

"Dad, why are you so happy about this? Not that it's not awesome, but it's not what I expected," she admitted.

"You think I haven't noticed how happy you are with her? That sort of thing matters, even if it's Regina," David said.

"Ouch, Dad." Emma knew Regina was not David's favorite person, so his enthusiasm for her engagement was heartening. He was so happy for her just because she was happy. "You know, you're a pretty okay dad."

David laughed. "That's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

"Well, you did call Mom."

A grin brightened his already beaming face as they strolled down the street. "I couldn't help it. It's more than just being your dad. I'm an alpha, Emma, and I know what it means when you find that person you want to be your mate. That's why I'm so happy for you. It's a great feeling."

Emma felt like her heart softened. "It is." She would not be able to describe it in a million years, but if Henry was ever able to feel like this, she would be just as happy for him as her father was for her.

They made it to _The Rabbit Hole_ before they got to say anything else. It was a little funny to her that the town's most popular bar was a stone's throw from the sheriff's station. David pushed open the door for _The Rabbit Hole._

"I need two ales ASAP! Daughter's getting married here!" David pointed to her, so the lone person in the bar could see.

"Uh, Sheriff, it's eight in the morning," the bartender, a cool dude named Teddy, replied. He was a big guy, who used to be a bear in the Enchanted Forest. He definitely looked as close to a bear as a human could.

"This wasn't my idea! Like I'm the drunk between us." Emma scoffed. Yes, she was the one who was more often drunk in public between the two of them, but her father definitely drank more often than she did, in the past year anyway.

"Okay, well, I don't serve until noon. So, you're here too soon, but congratulations. You wanna show me the ring? I can brag to my wife that I saw it before her." Teddy grinned.

Emma's brow furrowed. "I don't have a ring."

"Because she didn't want to risk losing her finger. You know how she is." David patted her on the shoulder while giving Teddy a wide grin. "Well, we'll come back later. See you then, Teddy." David waved and rushed her out of the place.

"What was that all about?" Emma asked, pointing with her thumb behind them.

"He assumed Regina proposed to you because she's the alpha and you're a beta," David replied.

"Oh, yeah!" Emma had forgotten all of that in her excitement. Before she could get into that, her phone buzzed in her pocket. "This is Regina. I know it." There was no way it was not Regina if her mother called as soon as she claimed she was, despite being in class.

David gave her a solid hit to her shoulder. "Take your lumps, kiddo. You know what you signed on for."

Emma sighed. "Yeah, I do." She answered the call and put her phone to her ear. "Hey, baby." She tried to sound as bright and happy as possible, hoping the mood would affect Regina somehow.

"Don't you 'hey, baby' me! How dare you tell your mother without warning me or without us discussing it. Do you know what kind of nonsense that woman was talking? Do you know what I had to do to get her off the phone?" Regina huffed.

Emma could imagine what her mother said to Regina and she could imagine how pissed it all made Regina. "It was my dad's fault! Yell at him!"

"Whoa!" David threw his hands up. "How are you just throwing me under the bus like that?" he asked as they got back to headquarters. He pulled open the door for her. "Should let you get your own damn door."

Emma entered the station and frowned at him. "I have to live with her!" Not to mention worry about her poisoning her food. Knowing Regina, she would just give Emma looks for the rest of her life, letting her _think_ the food was poisoned. _I'll go insane_.

"That's right, you have to live with me and you will not be happy about it for a while now," Regina said.

Emma shrugged. "Not true, unless you give me back the ring." This brought her a moment of silence.

"It's mine." Regina said that with all the possessiveness in the world.

"Yes, it is and I'm happy about that. We might need to talk about it, though. Dad mentioned this all to Teddy, down at _The Rabbit Hole_, and he expected to see a ring on my finger since you're the alpha in our relationship as far as everyone is concerned." Emma was not in the mood to wear a ring to please people, but would not mind it if Regina wanted to get her a ring to somehow keep up their facade. But, would that mean Regina had to take her ring off? A frown cut its way onto Emma's face. _She can't just keep my ring and not wear it_.

"It's not unheard of in this day and age for the alpha to be asked. Besides, you're a beta, not an omega, so it's not so strange."

"But, you're the Alpha of Alphas." It was strange, but Emma felt like anything Regina suggested to change it would wound her deeply and she was not sure why.

"I'm not taking this ring off, Emma."

Pride filled Emma's chest. Regina did not want to take her ring off. Regina did not care if people thought she, the Alpha of Alphas, had been proposed to rather than the one doing the proposing. _She loves me so much and I love her_. It was in this moment she realized how far behind she was with Regina. Regina was willing to walk around with her ring despite being seen as an alpha. _Well, I can get there, too_.

Emma went into her office, which was very rare, but she was not sure if she wanted her father to hear the rest of the conversation. "You like wearing my ring as much as you like wearing my mark?" The thought of her mark on Regina's skin made her twitch a little.

"I like both, of course. I find myself idly twirling the ring at quiet moments and in even quieter moments, I touch your mark, sending tingles down my spine."

Emma growled low in her throat, but in the back of her mind, wondered what the mark actually felt like. Was Regina being literal about the tingles? Emma had heard stories. "I want to put my mouth on your mark."

Regina groaned. "I'd enjoy that. I'd tilt my head to the side to make it easier for you."

The promise of phone sex made Emma rise just a little. She glanced out of her office to see her father at his desk. "Oh, god, Regina, we can't do this now. My dad is right outside my office and my office isn't nearly as secure as yours." While her father could not hear the conversation, he would definitely see her sporting a boner through the glass walls if this went on any longer.

Regina chuckled. "You started it. If you recall, I was angry with you when you picked up the phone."

"You being angry with me might be safer. Was my mother really annoying about this?"

Regina let out a low noise. "She actually cried over the idea of us being family _again_." She could hear Regina roll her eyes from the way she said the last word.

Emma's face furrowed. "How doesn't she get you're already family? You're Henry's mom for crying out loud. Plus, even if we weren't engaged, you're still my partner." _How the hell does Mom define family?_

"Yes, your mother seems to have problems grasping that. She has trouble making connections with a lot of things, as we both know. Anyway, she offered to take me out to celebrate. I declined, but offered to watch the Little Guy, so she could take you out."

"Oh, you are evil." That was even better revenge than poisoning her food! How could Regina be so diabolical?

"So I've been told. Enjoy yourself."

The call was ended with a dark chuckle, which was also evil, and Emma groaned while still feeling just a tiny bit aroused because of the laugh. Out for drinks with her mother. She had done it once. Her mother, for all her adventuring, could not hold her liquor. Two drinks in and her mother would not stop talking, about any and everything. Plus, she cried over every little thing. Maybe Ruby could act as a buffer. Surely, Ruby could stomach that sort of thing from her best friend for her best friend.

"Dad, you coming out with me and Mom later?" Emma asked as she stepped out of her office.

"Nah, she already told me it's ladies night or whatever. So, it's you and your mom." David offered her a kind smile. "Ruby will be there, too, of course. And she'll probably bring Dorothy. You'll be fine."

"Mom's going to cry a lot." _Please, cry to Rub_y. Emma had never been good with dealing with those sorts of emotions and she did not want to start now.

"Oh, yeah, which is why I didn't put up too much resistance when she said it was ladies' night. I'll have drinks with you before that."

Emma nodded. "Then, what are you going to do while Regina has Little Guy?"

"Enjoy my freaking alone time before I have to deal with him and your mother crying."

Emma chuckled a bit, but she did not feel much better about this. The night out with her mother would be a train wreck, but drinks with her father would probably be all right. But, when it was all over, she got to go home to her fiancée, her mate. Okay, maybe she felt a little better about this.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina sighed as the doorbell chimed. Of course Snow would be two hours early with her drop-off and of course Emma was still out with David. At least Zelena was here. She might be able to chase Snow off before she got too irksome.

"Snow, I wasn't expecting you so soon," Regina said as she opened the door. She should have expected Snow, though. She should have greeted her at the door with an apple pie. _I'll have to remember that for the next fine mess Emma gets me into with her mother_.

Snow grinned as she placed Little Guy on the floor and he took off, as if he had radar for Robbie. Regina turned, wanting to call to him, so she could at least take off his sneakers and coat, but he would not listen. Hopefully, Zelena would do her the favor. _You're relying on your sister an awful lot_. And that was never a good thing. _Is this the start of my new descent into madness? _

"You have to let me see the ring!" Snow squealed and grabbed her hand without her permission.

Regina did not bother to fight it, even though she would have liked to punch Snow in the face with her other hand. _Emma might even be proud of that reaction, even if this is her mother_. This would probably go a lot faster if she let Snow be irksome and moved on. So, she shoved the door shut while Snow cooed over the ring.

"I can't believe she picked this herself. It's so _you_," Snow said as she twisted and turned Regina's hand to get a look at the ring from all sides apparently.

Regina was not sure if that was a compliment or not, but again, she was going with the flow. She felt like the ring was her, though. It was her colors, but there was also something about it that spoke to her soul. She supposed that was what made Emma pick it.

"So, tell me about the proposal. What did she say? What did she do? Did she get down on one knee?" Snow blathered on as she walked deeper into the house, baby bag on her shoulder, Regina's hand still in her hand.

"What kind of boots do you have on this child? I can't get the bloody laces open!" Zelena huffed as she burst into the living room, holding the Little Guy like a book tucked under her arm.

Zelena actually came through. That was the perfect distraction, as Snow went to help get her son settled in. Regina rushed off, excusing herself to check on Robbie, who was in the den/downstairs playroom alone. Robbie met her at the door.

"Ne-ne!" Robbie called, her version of "Neal." Hopefully, it would stay that way or she might drive poor Emma out of her mind.

"He has to take his things off, dear," Regina said.

"Ne-ne!" Robbie charged off, as if her aunt did not speak at all.

Regina sighed and walked back to the living room, seeing Snow removing the Little Guy's coat. Once he was free, he ran to Robbie, who proceeded to shove him to the floor. Snow gasped while Regina and Zelena barely batted an eye. This was the new normal for the pair of "play cousins," as Emma referred to them. Regina did not understand the term, but it made Emma happy.

"Robbie, no!" Snow wagged her finger at Robbie while Little Guy laughed as he climbed to his feet. He then shoved Robbie back. They laughed and then ran as best their almost eighteen month old legs would carry them to the playroom.

"I can't wait until they start boxing each other," Zelena said with a laugh.

"You'll be the one to teach them no doubt," Regina replied with the appropriate side-eye.

"I would have expected you two to teach them class," Snow said.

"I don't know why you thought that," Zelena replied. Really, why had she thought that? Regina had plans to teach the duo cooking, horseback riding, and how to frighten people appropriately. Zelena would probably cover magic, rule breaking, and intimidation.

"Shouldn't you go get ready for your night out with Emma? Don't want that to go sideways, right?" Regina motioned to the door.

"Oh, Emma's out with David right now. We won't be out for a couple of hours. Let's have some tea and talk about the wedding," Snow practically squealed.

"I haven't even discussed that with Emma, so I won't be starting with you." Truthfully, she was not sure if she wanted a wedding in the sense Snow meant. Her first had left more than a sour taste in her mouth, so many scars she doubted even she knew them all, and the last thing she wanted to do was have a panic attack right after vows were said.

Snow did not take that hint, though. She started going on and on about the dream wedding she wanted for Emma, had wanted for Emma before Emma was even born. Regina listened out of guilt, even though she knew Emma would never go for any of it. Eventually, Zelena snapped.

"Oh, bloody Hell, you have to know all of that is impossible! Emma would never do one of those grandiose white weddings. I mean, white doves, white roses, and the giant white gown? Oh, please. The thought makes me want to vomit. And do you actually think Regina wants to go through some nonsense royal wedding a second time?" Zelena asked.

Regina was impressed Zelena understood that for both of them. Snow's mouth dropped open, but she did not get a chance to respond. The toddlers waddled out of the playroom, going right to Regina. They put up their hands and she picked up both of them.

"Tití, eat." Robbie pointed to her mouth while Little Guy cut to the quick and gnawed on Regina's shirt.

"Well, duty calls." Regina got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen, staying there with the babies as she prepared their food and fed them. Thankfully, Snow was gone by the time she returned with happy, snacking babies. "You didn't disappear the body, did you?" she asked Zelena.

Zelena waved her off. "She left on her own. She's still very sensitive over her father, apparently, and any suggestion that you might have been unhappy while married to him is blasphemy." With a snort, she rolled her eyes.

"Unbelievable," Regina muttered.

"Oh, trust me, I thought for sure I was hallucinating when she dared to make a face when I suggested you were not pleased to be married. As if she wasn't there when you orchestrated the man's death," Zelena said.

Regina shook her head and put the children down on the sofa. Picking up the remote, she put on Sesame Street. They howled with joy the moment they saw Elmo. They did not stay seated for long, needing to be right in front of the television for any songs. Regina sat in the empty space.

"Well, you know she thinks her father was a saint," Regina said.

"She also thinks the drunken man-child who believed he impregnated her teenage daughter and sent her to prison was a saint. The woman needs her perception shaken a little. One would think the fact that neither of you can say her son's name should be a hint," Zelena replied.

"She's trying. She deals with us."

"Or we deal with her. It hasn't been all murders on our side, after all."

Regina scowled. "I don't think pushing her is the way to go about things. Snow has to come to these things on her own. We know she can. It takes her a while, though. We can understand that." Just as Snow still thought the world of her father, the sisters held affections and felt love for their mother, despite everything. And, she knew for a fact their mother was worse than Snow's father. While he was many things, he was not a sociopath like Cora.

Zelena huffed. "Whatever." She probably would always hate being wrong, but Regina could understand that.

"It does us no good to upset Snow right now. She's trying to be part of a family with us. We should do the same." Of course, they had been trying to be family with Snow for a while now and it did not seem to sink into Snow's thick skull.

With a scoff, Zelena waved the whole matter off. "Fine. Whatever. Do you want me to stay with you or will the children be enough company?"

Regina waved her off. "Go do whatever it is you plan to do. Do not stalk Emma, though."

Zelena threw on an exaggerated pout. "Aw, but I wanted to see how long she'd be able to stand Snow before she just drinks the whole pub."

"Don't make me send Maleficent to babysit you." Thank every god for Maleficent and her tolerance of Zelena.

Zelena chuckled. "She's already volunteered. Surely you know she's my only friend in town."

It was sad, but true. Maleficent was still the only person who would put up with Zelena outside of their family. Hell, Maleficent barely counted as outside of the family. Ricardo, the son of Regina's dressmaker, tried to be Zelena's friend, but Zelena was not friendly toward him because he was so "openly omega." It bothered Zelena, even now. Ricardo would only allow her to insult him so much before he bit back. He had once nailed Zelena so hard with his words, she turned bright red and turned him into a mouse. Thankfully, Regina found him before a cat did.

"Maybe you should take it as a sign that your only friend is my best friend," Regina said. Not for the first time, Regina could only wonder how the hell she was the younger sister.

Zelena scoffed. "I'm your best friend."

Regina chuckled, even though Zelena was serious. It did not matter since she was Zelena's best friend. They gave each other cheek-kisses as a farewell. Zelena hugged and kissed both babies, who hugged and kissed her back, before leaving the house. Then, Regina was alone with two babies and her teenage son upstairs in his room. It would be a quiet night.

"I'm going to fetch your favorite books my darlings and we're going to read as soon as you're tired of Elmo." This tended to be fun for them and for her.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma barely had a chance to turn around as she went from hanging out with her dad to hanging out with her mother and Ruby. She did not even get a chance to leave _The_ _Rabbit Hole_. One second her father was next to her and then the next her mother and Ruby were on her flanks. Dorothy was by Ruby.

"Tequila!" Ruby shouted, tapping the bar.

"No, I was just having whiskey with my dad." Emma knew mixing drinks would not work out well for her.

"And now you're having tequila with your best friend! Here's to getting engaged!" Ruby hooted and the rest of the establishment followed her lead.

_The Rabbit Hole_ was more crowded now than it was when she came in with David. There were lots of people clapping her on the back, offering to buy her drinks. Every time she downed one, there were more cheers and congratulations thrown around.

"Hey, where's your ring?" someone asked.

"Regina has the ring. I asked her," Emma replied, thrown off balance as someone grabbed her hand to see the ring that did not exist.

"You asked her?" There were gasps.

Emma was not sure why they were so surprised, even though some part of her knew she understood why they were. She did not get a chance to think on it as darts were pressed into her hand. Now, she had to play darts while being three sheets to the wind. She could barely make out the dart board, just a blur of colors across the way. She hoped she did not kill someone as she let the first dart fly.

"You're better at this when you're drunk, but I bet you can't beat your mom," Ruby said, hitting Emma on the back and giving her yet another drink.

Emma could not handle a proper response, her brain was not working well enough. Too much whiskey and tequila. _How am I still standing? Wait, what am I doing? _Emma was not sure and then she recalled she had darts in her hand. She let one fly.

"Can you even see the board?" Ruby teased.

"I hit it, didn't I?" Emma countered. At least, she hoped she hit it. The important thing was no one had screamed in pain or confronted her about a dart in their ass. _I'm fucking good! Of course I am, Regina agreed to marry me!_

Snow was up next and Ruby pressed a shot into her hand before she let her dart fly. From the way the room erupted, Emma had to assume her mother hit the board, looked like a bull's eye. But, Emma could see two bull's eyes, so she was not sure what she was looking at.

"So, Snow, how does it feel that your daughter is about to marry the Evil Queen?" Leroy asked. When did he get there? Emma looked around. Okay, when did all of these people get here? _Do I know where 'here' is? Should I call Regina? I might be lost_.

Snow sniffled. "My little girl is all grown up!" Tears were already going down her face.

"Mom!" Emma groaned. Okay, she could not be lost. She was with her mother, who was crying, so she probably had been drinking. _I'm still in _The Rabbit Hole. _Yay, I made a connection! How's that for behind, every teacher I've ever had?_

"And being bedded by the baddest alpha to ever exist!" someone shouted, like this was an accomplishment. Maybe it was. Emma was not sure, but then again, she was not sure the world was not on a tilt either.

"No, Emma doesn't want bad alphas. Emma is a good alpha," Snow objected.

Something in that statement sounded wrong, but Emma could not figure out what it was. It was all right. The less drunk people had her back.

"You mean Emma wants a good alpha."

"No, no, no. Emma wants to be a good alpha and she is," Snow insisted.

Emma held her chin up high. "I am a good alpha."

A grin spread across Emma's face. She was a good alpha. Regina said so. Wait, a good alpha? No, no, no. That was a secret! No one was supposed to know she was an alpha.

"Mom!" Emma hissed, feeling surprisingly sober for someone with half the bar in her system. She grabbed Snow around the shoulders.

"She's a good alpha because alphas can be good!" Snow hugged her around the middle and cried even more. "She's such a good alpha and we love her and she's getting married."

"Shit." Emma sucked her teeth and dragged her mother out of the bar. Ruby and Dorothy were right behind them.

"Night over?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I gotta go warn Regina. Can you make sure Mom gets home okay?"

Ruby nodded. "Of course."

Emma sighed and eased her mother into Ruby's arms and then broke off into a run, going home. She could barely get her key in the door as panicked coursed through her. The town knew she was an alpha. They knew she proposed to Regina. They thought Regina was an alpha. This whole thing was a mess.

It did not get better when she finally managed to get into the house. Regina was not alone, beyond the babies. Zelena and Maleficent were there, too.

"Regina, we gotta talk," Emma said in a rush. "In private."

"Well, that's never good," Zelena said what they all thought. For once, Emma did not have a comeback to shut her up. There was no time for that.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the couple tries to figure out how to handle this.


	7. Ring the Alarms

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

7: Ring the Alarms

Regina's heart rate spiked when Emma said they needed to talk after coming into the house earlier than planned and looking wild-eyed. She eased a sleeping Little Guy into Maleficent's arms and rushed over to Emma, being blasted with the smell of alcohol, even though Emma did not seem drunk. She wrapped her arm around Emma's arm and they went to the study.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked with a lump in her throat. What if Emma wanted her ring back? Could Snow have disgusted her with talks to weddings so quickly?

"My mom is a blabbermouth when she's drunk is what's wrong! She told the whole bar I'm a damn alpha!" Emma paced, her voice boomed and her steps thundered. "My dumbass confirmed it before I realized what she said!"

Regina blinked. Okay, so not the worst thing in the world. Snow was just being Snow and Emma was just being super-drunk Emma. They were still engaged. Okay, she could handle this.

"Was the bar as drunk as you are?" Regina asked.

"I'm not drunk! Not anymore!" Emma waved her hands around.

Regina nodded. "Then, why are you yelling, beloved?" Not to mention, it was impossible for Emma not to be drunk. She had been down at the bar all day with either parent shoving drinks in her hand.

"Because she told everyone!" Emma threw up her hands. "Aren't you listening? She told everybody!"

Regina held Emma's hand. "Okay, yes, she told everyone in the bar. I understand. Are you upset that she outed you? Upset that you blurted out an agreement?"

Emma paused and stared at the floor, eyes boring through the wood. "Maybe. I dunno. I mean, I can barely call myself an alpha and now they all know and they all think you're an alpha and they know we're engaged, so now they'll also think we're… you know…"

Regina did know, but she did not care at the moment. She pulled Emma into a hug. She was almost overwhelmed by the scent of alcohol coming from Emma's pores. She did not think Emma made this story up, as she was too frantic for that, but it was possible Emma was so drunk she misheard.

"Are you sure your mother told the whole bar you were an alpha?" Regina asked.

"Yes! She said I was a good alpha."

"Well, she's not lying. You are a very good alpha and I wish you would own that." It was definitely an attractive quality.

Emma whimpered, sounding crushed. "Everyone knows."

Regina studied Emma's face. "And that bothers you."

Emma tore away, turning around in the room. "It wasn't hers to tell!" She faced Regina and hit herself in the chest hard. "It's mine and now everybody's gonna look at me different!"

Regina nodded. "Or you feel you might be different."

Emma whimpered again and then sobbed, throwing herself onto Regina's arms. Regina held her tight and made her way to the chaise, sitting them both down. This was too much for Emma, who could barely accept being an alpha. Now, the town knew. Regina wracked her brain for what to say, how to make this right. Emma did not give her a chance to think too much or say anything, though.

Before Regina could dig a little deeper, she realized Emma had fallen asleep. Glancing at the clock, she could see Emma had been drinking for the better part of five hours, so it made sense for her to pass out. Using magic, Regina transferred Emma from the study to their bed. She stripped Emma down to her undergarments and made sure she was in a comfortable position. Regina left water and a couple of pills on the nightstand and kissed Emma on the forehead before returning downstairs.

"So, what happened?" Zelena asked.

"Snow happened," Regina replied with a long suffering sigh. Snow White was a plague that just kept on giving.

Maleficent groaned from her space on the sofa. Thankfully, the child in her arms did not wake. "What did she do now?"

"She outed Emma to the bar, which means she outed Emma to the town," Regina said.

"Oh, so I can stop pretending to not know she's an alpha?" Maleficent asked, crossing her legs at the knee.

Regina was not sure. "I don't know how Emma would like to handle this. She was panicked." The idea that some people might have known before Snow's slip could make things so much worse.

"Because she doesn't want people to think she's an alpha in a relationship with an alpha?" Maleficent asked.

"I'm sure that's the least of Emma's concerns," Zelena replied. She probably sympathized with Emma's situation. It was nice to know Zelena had empathy, but it was not very helpful at the moment.

"No, she did bring that up, but it was probably more out of concern for me. We all know how that could impact my role as mayor, but I'm more worried about her right now. I'm not sure how to handle this," Regina said, stomach rolling in a way that made her want to vomit. She wanted to make this better for Emma. She was supposed to make things better for Emma. _Is it just about Emma, though?_

"Maybe it's time for you both to own this," Maleficent replied.

Regina arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She had owned her status quite a while ago.

"It's time for both of you to just be who you are. You're in this relationship anyway and you're both disgustingly open about that, disgustingly in love with each other. I also think you could be an inspiration to any omegas out there, who still buy into the drivel of the Old World or even of this world. You've done so much more than someone would think an omega could," Maleficent said. Her eyes drifted to Zelena for a moment. Zelena was thankfully distracted by Robbie moving in her arms.

Regina rubbed her chin, even though she would rather stroke the mark on her shoulder. Maybe it was time, especially since they were getting married and partially mated. Maybe one day they might even be blessed with another child. They could not carry on pretending they were an alpha and a beta in a relationship. It was unnecessary and exhausting, too.

"I'll talk to Emma," Regina said. She could not see Emma getting on board with this, not so soon after deciding she would try to accept being an alpha. Emma might not be able to do that with people watching, with people judging, and with people more than likely adding their two cents no one asked for.

"After she whines about the hangover," Zelena said with a smart-ass smirk.

"She earned that. She proposed to Regina, after all. I'm shocked she wasn't drunk when she did that," Maleficent said.

Regina glared at her friend, but did not say anything. It took courage for Emma to ask for her hand in marriage for many reasons beyond her obvious dislike of the entire institution. Regina respected it now that she thought about it. Now, she would have to find the courage to ask Emma to open up to the world, to reveal they were a rather ordinary couple. It could change everything.

It would definitely change the way people looked at them. Expectations would for them could change. Stereotypes would be forced on them and they would have to fight back. But, that would happen if they did not do anything as well.

"I'm not sure I like that idea any more than Emma would," Regina said.

"Why not?" Maleficent asked.

Regina frowned a bit. It was not that she was ashamed of being an omega and being open would not be a problem. She did not care about the judgments, but she felt like she was making a bad statement somehow.

"To come out as an omega to avoid being seen as an alpha-alpha couple…" Regina could only make a face. It was like saying there was something wrong with alpha-alpha couples and she did not believe that.

"But, you have to be tired of living a lie," Maleficent replied.

Her whole life had been a lie. From her mother turning her into a Lady to being Leopold's queen to being the Evil Queen. Even when she was with Emma, there was still the lie every time she walked out the door. It was exhausting. She would give her right arm for some peace, for her very simple dream of having a loving family. But, the truth would not bring peace.

It would bring other problems, different problems. But, the truth would free Regina from lying. Any problems would come from the outside. She could handle those, especially with Emma by her side.

"It's time," Maleficent said.

Yes, it was. She wanted to live free with Emma. Of course, she would have to convince Emma of that considering how Emma reacted to the town hearing she was an alpha.

She had less than an hour to gather the right words to get Emma onboard with revealing themselves to the world. David picked up the Little Guy later than he planned because Snow needed looking after when she arrived home quite drunk and crying over how their baby was getting married. Zelena left with Robbie once Little Guy was gone and Maleficent did not stick around after that. Regina took forever in the shower as far as she could tell before crawling into bed with Emma.

Emma seemed to sense Regina the second she was down on the mattress. She moved, draping herself over Regina. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma and kissed her forehead.

"I love you so much, Emma. I just want to live with you in peace," Regina said. It would not be possible, because of who they were. Beyond being an alpha and an omega living as a beta and an alpha, but also as the Savior and former Evil Queen/current mayor of Storybrooke, and as heroes whenever times got crazy. They were always in the spotlight. Peace was not something they had ever known, even before they were "famous."

But, continuing to live a lie would make things so much worse. It cost so much to keep up a lie and one small thing could shatter the lie with ease. It was already something that stressed Emma out and it was just her worrying over people finding out she was an alpha. Regina could only imagine what Emma would go through with people knowing she was an alpha and also thinking she was in a relationship with an alpha.

In the Old World, an alpha with an alpha relationship was a taboo only topped by incest, and even that had to be a parent and child or siblings specifically. Anything else, an alpha/alpha relationship was considered the worst. The perversion was beyond imagination much of the time, not many being able to picture how two alphas would be able to exist together, let alone be in a relationship together. Such a relationship was unspeakable and now people were out there speaking of it in reference to her and Emma.

In this world, an alpha with an alpha relationship was not as taboo as in the other realm, but still was not viewed in the positive sense. It seemed to go against everything an alpha was supposed to be. An alpha was supposed to be a dominant force in the relationship, take charge, and above all else in command. How did one get that with two alphas? Some of the thoughts seemed very much like the Old World, like the idea there was no balance in such a relationship or it was unnatural. But, at least such relationships existed in the light of day here.

Still, she could already imagine people puzzling over how an alpha Evil Queen and an alpha Savior co-existed in a relationship. They would assume one of them was lesser and look down on both of them. She could only imagine the things that would be said, behind her back probably, but to Emma's face more than likely.

Regina did not want to live that lie, though. She did not want to live any lies anymore. She did not want her sexual status to be a thing of shame anymore. Being an omega had given her Henry, the light of her life. Being an omega had attracted Emma to her, Emma who turned her life upside down in a good way. Being an omega was not bad and it had not held her back, even when people tried. She was not worthless as an omega or only good for making pups, even when people insisted that was the case. The world would be able to see that, not just about her, but about omegas in general.

_Oh, please. We know it won't be that easy_. After all, she had lived as an omega in an alpha/omega relationship and it had not been easy. Life was not easy, but she would like to live her life in complete honesty for once and on her terms. There would never be a time when she could just live her life without people interfering or judging, but it would be nice to see what it was like simply being Regina.

Regina fell asleep, feeling like decisions were made. She would have to discuss it with Emma, see where Emma's mindset was. Hopefully, Emma would be all right with being out.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma's head pounded as she drifted into consciousness. She could tell she was pressed against Regina. _Ah, mate_. With a groan, she tried to bury her face in Regina's neck, block out the world with Regina's lovely scent, and go back to sleep. It did not work.

"Drink the water and take the pills," Regina said, her voice low, caring, but interrupting of wonderful sleep.

Emma grunted, but did not move beyond opening her eyes, which felt like they had sand rubbed in them. Everything was blurry and she felt like she could not move, like she had rocks pushed on her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to gather herself.

After a few seconds, Regina reached over her, moving the bed, and pressing into her shoulder. She felt a drop of water against her skin, so she assumed Regina grabbed the glass of water. A chalky taste hit her as something pressed against her lips. It took her a moment. Regina had put two pills to Emma's lips and Emma swallowed them along with some water. Emma cracked open one eye to see what was going on. Regina put the glass back on the end table by Emma and settled into her pillow. With a sigh, Emma cuddled in closer to her.

"Last night was a nightmare, right?" Emma asked, closing her eye again. It was too much work to keep them open.

"Which part?" Regina rubbed Emma's side, causing warmth to spread through Emma. _Oh, this is my mate. I'm so lucky!_

Emma rubbed her nose in Regina's skin, taking in her aroma. She could tell it was changing already, chemical evolution from the mating mark. She smelled so sweet. Emma could just eat her right now… or when the headache went away. _Yeah, when the headache goes away and it doesn't hurt to move._

"Mom outed me?" Her voice was muffled by delicious flesh. She kissed it.

Regina sighed. "From what you say, that actually happened. I've heard your phone vibrating throughout the night, so that might be her calling to apologize."

Emma groaned. "This is why drinking with her sucks. She gets so emotional."

"Your mother is always emotional."

She could not call Regina a liar there, but she had learned to navigate her mother's emotions for the most part, except when she was drunk. "Can you get my phone? I want to gauge how long the apology is going to be when she actually makes contact and if she realizes what she did."

"You're going to gauge it by missed calls?"

Emma shrugged. "By the number of missed calls and text messages." She could already imagine she had a hundred text messages from her horrified mother, who had done exactly what they feared she would do. It was a little nice to see her mother do it by accident for the simple fact it helped her understand how the secret spilled with Regina. It could not have been on purpose in the sense that Snow was trying to be malicious or hurtful, despite what happened.

Regina reached over Emma once again, grabbing her phone. With nothing to hide, Emma gave Regina the password to her phone not long after she moved in. Regina opened the phone as she settled into her pillow once again.

"A hundred text messages before midnight. She started early," Regina said.

"She didn't have as much to drink as me," Emma replied. She could only imagine the destruction her mother could have wrought with the right amount of liquor in her.

"Of course she didn't since she wasn't drinking for hours before that. None of these apologies are worth reading to you. I swear your mother thinks any of her mistakes are just fortunes we haven't figured out how to spend yet. Do you want to hear any of the voicemails?"

Emma shook her head. "No, I know she didn't mean to it. She was drunk and emotional. She gets how she gets."

"You still should let her apologize to your face. It makes no sense that she can't keep any secret, even if she was trying to be encouraging to you."

Emma nodded. "I will." It will make things less painful in the long run for her, her mother, and Regina.

"And you should probably call her back before you get another hundred text messages."

That would probably be the wise thing to do, even though it would not help Emma's headache. "What're we going to do about her telling the world?"

Regina put the phone down and ran her fingers through Emma's hair, which was beyond relaxing. "There are options. You both can always laugh it off. Your mother was drunk. You were drunk, very drunk."

This was true, but for some reason Emma felt like the town would not buy that. Also, her stomach felt a little heavy at that answer. Laughing it off would be an outright lie. Yes, she used drugs and magic to hide what she was, but she never outright denied it before. And, hell, what kind of message would that send Henry? Or even Regina? _This would be another step back_.

"You think I should laugh it off?" Emma asked. She did not want to do that. She did not want to be a coward, afraid of her status, hating her status, but she was not comfortable with the way the town found out. _You can't change that, though_.

Regina's fingers massaged Emma's scalp. "Are you comfortable with that?"

"I don't think I am."

"And that's fine."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "What are the other options?"

"Well, we could come out."

"I am out." That was the problem, which created other problems. Mentally, Emma groaned. She did not want to think any of this right now. Her head hurt too much.

"Yes, but I can come out with you. We don't have to be two alphas in a relationship if that bothers you."

Emma scoffed. "I don't give a damn about that. I mean, yeah, people suck when it comes to alphas being with alphas, but I don't really care about that. Well, not for me anyway. It might hurt you." That was really the problem. She did not want people to use a lie to ruin Regina.

Regina deserved happiness and peace for once and she wanted to be the one to give Regina those things. There was no way that would happen if people thought they were two alphas in a relationship. Just thinking about what people would about Regina, maybe even in front of Henry, pissed Emma off.

Regina waved the matter off. "Whether they assume I'm an alpha or not makes no difference to me. They've always thought of me as depraved. They're not wrong in thinking I had alphas back in the Enchanted Forest."

Emma groaned and buried her face in Regina's neck. "No, don't tell me." It was not so much that Emma did not want to hear about Regina's past lovers, be they alphas, omegas, or something in between due to possessive alpha-ness, but just she did not want to hear it point blank. Yes, she was very aware Regina had a long list of past lovers, some who wanted to be in her bed and others not so much, and that was more than enough information.

Regina kissed the top of Emma's head and ran her fingers through Emma's hair. "I'm sorry, my love. I just want you to know they've always assumed I'm a degenerate and they're not far off in their thinking."

"Not anymore."

"No, not anymore. It's more your reputation I'm concerned for. Some Old World thinking will prevail and people will think I've forced you into this relationship or they'll think you're just as depraved as they think I am. It might overcome your savior mystique and change the way people treat you."

Emma frowned. "You're not depraved."

"I was. You know that, as you know many of my lovers weren't there voluntarily."

Emma let loose another groan, not wanting to think about Regina that way either. Yes, she understood and accepted Regina had not always been a good person, but she did not like to think about it or be reminded of it. _Regina's a different person now_.

"I know you hate to think about it, but don't deny it," Regina said.

"I'm not. I just want to live in the now with you."

"Yes, well, in the now there are people who believe there's something inherently wrong with an alpha and alpha relationship. The perceived power imbalance is messy for them, too messy to comprehend. I don't want that on you. You're too good for those judgements." Regina caressed her scalp.

"I love how you think I'm so pure." It never failed to tickle Emma that Regina thought of her as a good girl, not to the same extent as the townsfolk, but Regina did not acknowledge the bad things Emma had done in her life.

"Being a self-serving idiot isn't the same as being covered in darkness."

Emma sighed. "But, just like you don't like me downplaying your past, you do the same to me."

"Again, your juvenile antics don't compare to my atrocities."

"Still, I'm not angel."

Regina scoffed. "Believe me, I am more than aware. I think you view your past actions in harsher light than they actually are, but I'll let you be. You can be my bad girl."

"Damn right I am." Emma leaned in closer to Regina. Yes, it was silly to think of herself as the "bad girl" in this relationship, but she did not care about it. Right now, who was the badass between them? _Well, even that could be argued_.

Regina laughed. "You're ridiculous."

"What do you want to do?" Emma could see Regina going on and on about what was best for her, but right now, those answers did not seem to fit right.

Regina took a deep breathe. "I want to live with you, openly in love without anyone judging our family on lies, even lies we started."

"You want to come out." She could have guessed that.

"I think it would be the best thing for us. Do you want to keep living the lie?" Regina asked.

Emma opened her mouth to respond, but stopped. The way her stomach dropped, she knew she did not want to say what she was going to say. Despite the way her mother had just let it out, she was not sure she wanted it back in. It was a little freeing to not have to worry about taking a potion and how her scent was and if some magical creature might just know and blurt it out. She did not like that this was not done on her terms, but she was not ashamed of people knowing.

"I think… I think… I don't feel… I'm not scared like I thought I'd be. Or even angry. I'm not nervous or anxious that people know. I don't get it. I worked so hard to keep this secret and I'm not scared. I'm not even ashamed," Emma said. She spent her life hiding this and with it out there, what she was pissed about was her mother blurting out her business, not the business itself, and how it might affect Regina. _Wow, I put all this energy into hiding and it didn't really matter_.

"Maybe everything you expected, you actually already experienced. I think you've judged yourself harsher than anyone ever could for being an alpha and maybe, just maybe, this has let you understand people knowing your status doesn't change who you are. You're still the same Emma."

Emma nodded. She was still Emma and maybe she was her worst critic. She had seen many of the people of Storybrooke do horrible things or heard of them doing horrible things. Who were they to judge her? It was not so much they knew she was an alpha, but she had to make sure she did not behave like some jackass alpha. It was her own behavior she needed to monitor, not their thoughts of her. _I really wish I thought this out and realized this a long time ago_. It would have saved her so much trouble and also kept her from having quite a few talks with Regina.

"You know what's funny?" Emma asked.

"Tell me."

"I just realized all this time, I wasn't really afraid of people finding out I'm an alpha. I think I'm just afraid of being an alpha."

"You're afraid of being a certain type of alpha and I promise you're nothing like the alphas you're afraid of becoming. You see there are great alphas and you're the best of them all."

Emma sighed. "How can you be so sure?" The faith Regina had in her could cave in her chest sometimes. _I'm so damn lucky to have this woman_.

"Because I trust my heart with you."

And, while Emma understood that to a huge degree, hearing it hit her somewhere deep, somewhere the other words never made it. This penetrated and there was suddenly this warmth in her soul. She wrapped her arms around Regina and pulled her closer. She kissed the side of Regina's head.

"How do you want to come out?" Emma asked.

Regina pulled away enough to look at her, studying her. "You're okay with this?"

Emma rolled onto her back, dragging Regina with her. She put a hand on the small of Regina's back and the other hand went to her mark on Regina's skin. How could she not be okay with this? She had a mate who was willing to marry her, who gave her an awesome pup, and they were a wonderful family. She would love to shout it to the world.

"You trust me. I've got to start trusting me. It's nothing to do with them," Emma said.

Regina leaned down and kissed her. "I'm glad you've finally got that. What we have has nothing to do with them and we have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Then why come out at all?" It sounded like they could just ignore all the nonsense and live their lives, which was very appealing. She hated to have to explain herself to anyone about why they did this. It was not anyone else's business.

"Because I'm tired of the lies. I also don't want Henry to grow ashamed of himself as we have been."

That was another good point. Emma really needed to get her act together and be true to herself for Henry. She had to be an example to him, in case he ended up with an alpha. Beyond that, she and Regina had to be an example of a healthy relationship for him, so he did not end up going through a bunch of crappy relationships like they did.

"I really, really want to raise a pup with you, if only to watch you work," Emma said.

Regina smiled, but there was the usual sorrow in her eyes when children came up. "Maybe someday if we're lucky."

"After the wedding, we can honeymoon outside of Storybrooke and at least try." Emma ran her thumb along her mark and Regina purred. Emma smiled. "Maybe when you mark me."

Regina gave her a soft kiss. "It'll come. Before the wedding. I promise."

Emma was surprised. She was not insecure or scared it would never come. She believed Regina. Eventually, they would be properly mated and married.

"Okay, so how are we going to do this coming out thing?" Emma asked.

"I can have it arranged." Regina reached for her phone and noticed she had several notifications. "Or we could speak with Shang Li as he's already emailed me twice and called my assistant three times according to her text messages."

Emma could feel her brow furrow more than usual. "Shang Li? Is that the same douche who fell in love with Mulan when he thought she was a beta male and then fell out of love with her because she turned out to be an awesome beta female?"

"He can't help that he's homosexual."

"I didn't know he was here. What's he do here? Why the hell isn't he working for the Sheriff's department? Is it because I hired Mulan?"

Regina scoffed and stared at Emma with a scrunched up expression. "You seriously haven't noticed he's our town's best fire fighter?"

"I have noticed you're the only source of fire in the town."

"This is quite true. But, he's also the chief reporter for the _Q_."

Emma squinted. "Are you just making shit up now to mess with me while I'm hungover?"

Regina sighed. "I don't understand how you can be so observant on some things and so oblivious on others. The _Q_ is the town's only queer newspaper. It doesn't have much readership, even with the Curse broken. Being queer and homosexuality weren't the most acceptable things in the Enchanted Forest, but in other places in the Old World it was more acceptable."

"So, it's more acceptable where Shang and Mulan are from?"

Regina shrugged. "I would say so, but I'm not very familiar with their country. Anyway, I'm sure he's trying to get in touch as he thinks we're an alpha/alpha couple, as well as a female/female couple. He's got a twofer."

Emma cringed. "Can you not do that?"

Regina grinned, her typical predatory smile. "Oh, but you love when I try to be modern."

"Twofer is not modern. Please, just stop talking. Lemme enjoy the greatest hangover of all time." Emma angled her head to kiss her mark on Regina and it made Regina purr again. She could do that all day. Maybe she would do it all day.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end.


	8. Climb to the Top

I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

8: Climb to the Top

Regina had not paid much attention to Shang Li when they came over in the second Curse and he somehow got the job of fire chief, but it suited him. He had an air of protectiveness and authority, which might have just been his alpha hormones trying to push into her omega brain, but it worked to a small degree. He was also handsome enough for her to understand why the omega population and beta women might be upset with him being attracted to alpha and beta males. As long as he did his job, she could not care less who he took to bed, but others were not as practical as she was.

Emma was less than impressed if her expression meant anything as they sat on their sofa across from Shang. Regina took Emma's hand and held it tight, but it did nothing for her frown. It could be because Shang was an alpha grinning at Emma's marked mate or it could because he dumped her good friend and deputy. Either way, Regina was not sure if she might have to restrain her lover.

"Thank you both for meeting with me," Shang practically gushed as he settled in the armchair in the living room.

They decided to do the interview at home to avoid any distractions. Zelena was out with Robbie and Henry. They had the house to themselves for the next couple of hours. Regina made sure there was hot tea and cake, as well iced tea, lemonade, and cookies. It was impossible for her not to have something to serve guests at this point. It put her at ease when Shang decided to try to a cookie.

"Delicious," he said with a small smile.

"Eat as much as you like," Regina replied. She reached for a cookie and shoved it in Emma's mouth to keep a growl at bay.

Shang nodded and gave Emma a bit of a smile, as if to set her at ease. It did not work, as Emma was tense enough for Regina to feel it hum in her own muscles. Shang shrugged, possibly conceding to Emma, which might help. He was sort of acknowledging she was in charge and while Emma's conscious mind might rebel against this sort of alpha behavior, her subconscious might accept it. Emma's shoulders dropped a little, so maybe it worked.

Shang took a second to eye Emma and then moved a cup of hot tea toward himself, and took one more cookie. He plucked out his notepad from his book bag and also put his phone down, probably to record the conversation. "I can't tell you how excited the small queer community was to hear you were family!"

"Okay, calm down. We're not…" Emma sighed and held up her hands. "Wait, lemme start over before I say something offensive. We're not exactly queer."

"You are two female alphas in a relationship. That's pretty queer," Shang replied, his eyes bright with excitement.

Regina shook her head. "You have it wrong."

Shang's smooth features scrunched up as he studied them through narrowed eyes. "You contacted me to tell your coming out story."

"Yes, but not the one you thought. I'm actually not an alpha. I'm an omega," Regina replied.

Shang's brow furrowed even more, but then his mouth dropped open. "The fabled Evil Queen is an omega? But…"

"Yes, magic." Regina made a nonsense hand gesture. "It makes sense if people bother to remember when I was only Queen Regina. Are you still interested in telling our coming out story?"

Shang took a moment, staring at them as if they were out of their minds. "I think I would still like to tell your coming out story. It sounds like while you're not the queer couple I hoped, you're also not an ordinary couple well beyond being the Savior and Evil Queen. After all, until yesterday, it was agreed you were an alpha and Emma was a beta. How did we get there?"

"Shame," Emma said.

"Stereotypes," Regina added.

"Life bullshit in general," Emma said.

Regina frowned. "Just when I thought some elegance might be rubbing off on you."

"Look, we're coming out or whatever. Isn't that good enough?" Emma rolled her eyes.

"Not something you want to do?" Shang asked. "You feel forced out?" He leaned in, moved his arm like he might touch Emma, but thought better of it. Instead, he sat back again and took a sip of his tea.

Emma sighed, running her hand through her hair. "We're doing this, aren't we?"

Regina nodded and took her hand, holding it tight. "We are. So you might as well start."

Emma twisted her mouth up. "Why do I gotta start it?"

"Because this started with you."

Emma did not argue that and they proceeded to tell Shang their story, a coming out story for an almost straight couple considering their statuses, even if their genders were the same. Genders generally were not a big deal if the couple were an alpha and an omega. Regina always assumed they got a pass on this because Emma was the savior, even though she was perceived as a beta.

They were probably the least queer thing Shang could have wanted, but he hung on their every word. Regina wondered if he would have even believed them if they shared all of the gory details, even though he looked ready to swallow his tongue when Emma explained her traumatic encounter with her alpha foster mother right after she presented along with the why and how she ended up pretending to be a beta. Regina squeezed Emma's hand through the whole thing, more for herself than for Emma.

"This sounds very much like a coming out story to me, for both of you," Shang said.

Emma frowned and shook her head. "Kinda feels like it's cheating. I mean, queer folks go through so much for being the way they are and we're damn near normal."

"First off, queer people are normal, too. Second off, you hid being an alpha because you think alphas are evil and you had so much anecdotal evidence to back it up, I can't see how you couldn't think that for a long time. You tried to change who you were because you didn't want to be that. Do you know how many queer people hid being queer because they think it's evil or they think something's wrong with them? Do you know how many queer people try to be something they're not? Do you know how many queer people are threatened with violence for being the way they are?" Shang asked.

Emma looked away. "I know more than I like, which is why I feel kinda bad about this." Regina did not expect that, but it made sense.

Shang shook his head. "Then you should know your story is something we can relate to. Your coming out is lot harsher than mine. I never had to worry about hiding from anyone other than myself."

"You broke Mulan's heart."

Shang nodded. "Yes, but she discovered some things about herself because of that. Perhaps we're better for it."

Emma's expression did not change, but it was possibly true. Mulan seemed very attracted to the female form, lately anyway. Emma suspected Mulan went for any type of female, but before that, she knew Mulan had been attracted to Philip. Philip was similar to Shang in the sense that he was an adventurous male, but as far as Emma knew, Philip was a beta. It was possible Mulan was pansexual, which she never would have learned if she mourned Shang's rejection of her for long.

"Your family just accepted you?" Emma asked.

Shang sighed. "My family died in a land too often at war."

"Oh. Sorry." Emma tensed up. Regina patted her thigh.

"The Old World was brutal in many ways," Regina offered by way of an apology. With luck, she was not the one who killed his family. She had never waged war against his country, but somehow murder always linked back to her.

"And this world should be freeing," Shang replied.

"Or so is the hope." Regina did not have much faith in not facing a backlash for this, but there was a hope. Maybe most of the town would be evolved enough to simply accept the relationship, their statuses, and what they were doing with their own private lives. _You know that's not going to happen_.

"Like I said, should. I've read about the strides queer folks have made here, especially with the passage of Marriage Equality. Still, there are so many horror stories, some like yours," Shang said.

"Being scared of who they are because society has deemed them wrong," Regina said. Well, that was more for Emma. Regina just wanted to be in charge of herself for once in her life.

"Exactly. Being forced into roles they didn't want out of fear." Shang nodded. "Even with what you were talking about, how you made yourself an alpha because you needed to have control, to stop being afraid. Members of the LGBTQ community know so much fear."

Regina sighed. "It is a sad fact, even though I understand their fear is different than what I experienced."

"We all want autonomy, Madam Mayor."

Regina nodded. For as long as she remembered, she wanted to control her own destiny. Her status did not define her as a person, but no one would accept that. The world made it seem like "omega" was all there was to her, all she was.

"Even this thing you're talking about, being seen as just one thing, this is something we worry about. I always think when I go into a room, people are going to see a gay man and nothing more," Shang said.

Emma frowned. "That's dumb."

"Yes, it is, but it's something we all worry about. I worry about only being seen for my attraction and you two worry about being seen only as your status. We don't want to be seen as one thing because we're so much more." Shang's eyes lit up as he made a tight fist.

"This still feels like cheating. I don't want people to think I'm taking away from their struggle," Emma said.

"First off, you're icons around here anyway. So, regardless of you being members of the LGBTQ community, a lot of people still look up to you. The readers will want to know about you and they will relate to you. Well, most of them. Of course there will be a few nay-sayers, who will think you're taking advantage and making a false equivalency, but I think you're both brave for this, as we all know this is going to change things. Hopefully, it'll be for the better."

"Thank you," Regina said. She did not feel brave, only tired. It would be nice to get this behind them.

Emma grinned. "Yeah, now there's some omega out there who knows he or she can be a kick ass mayor." She took Regina's hand and kissed her knuckles.

Regina blew out a breath. "I have a feeling asses will need to be kicked very soon." She was not wrong about that.

-8-8-8-8-

The article was barely out for an hour when the Town Council, a bunch of royals from the Old World, called an emergency meeting. Emma would bet her left arm it had to do with Regina being an omega and the text Regina just sent her would make her go all in with the bet. She rushed into the Town Hall Council center. Several townspeople were there, seated in the gallery, with Regina standing before the Council like it was her execution, but she was smirking. So, while they sat as judge and jury, she was probably the executioner and those idiots had no idea. Emma did not feel bad for them.

"We think it would be best if you stepped down," said a douche bag duchess from King George's kingdom who took his spot when he up and vanished. Emma was almost certain her name was Dawn something or other. She was a small thing, lucky the Council seats literally put them above the others in the room, and she possibly had a Napoleon complex. She sort of reminded Emma of a little dog, always barking and growling, trying to pick a fight with someone so much more dangerous.

Emma was not surprised Dawn was leading the charge, having seen glimpses of her scheming over getting more power in town. Regina tended to suspect Dawn whenever it seemed like the Council was trying to do step out of line. From the look in Dawn's green eyes, Regina probably was not wrong about that.

Regina chuckled. The sound was so dark Emma was not sure how she did not get an erection immediately, but it was good thing she did not since her parents were on the Council. Okay, and there was an audience, which was not her thing. It looked like a good chunk of the town got the memo about this meeting and Town Hall was packed with people and more coming in every second.

"Do you really think you could just fire me on a whim for being an omega? Are you really such fools?" Regina asked, eyes roaming through the group, who looked down their noses at her, like they were in charge of something. They would not even exist if Regina had not decided to create a council to stop actual coup attempts, like they lived in the fourteenth century.

"You have been skating on our good graces since we came back from the Enchanted Forest. We've let you run wild, but no more. You're only mayor because of the Curse," Dawn said, giving a glance down the Council row. Out of the ten people sitting with her, eight of them gave small nods.

"Oh, how soon we forget. Special election, during that little six-week quiet period. I do believe I ran unopposed," Regina said. It happened.

"Yes, people were still celebrating the foolish idea that you actually saved us from your sister. More lies." The douche bag motioned to Zelena, who grinned.

"I am so proud of her for actually trying to destroy me." Zelena blew Regina a kiss.

"Where is Maleficent to wrangle you?" Emma asked as she moved by Zelena. Zelena was childless, but Ruby was nowhere to be found, so she probably had Robbie, Little Guy, and Henry.

Zelena giggled. "She's going to miss all the fireworks, but I'm sure you're fine with that."

Emma groaned and rolled her eyes. "Where are the kids?"

"With your little friend. She didn't want to witness the carnage." Zelena waved the matter off.

Emma nodded, satisfied with that. She moved on from Zelena and went to stand by Regina. Regina did not miss a beat.

"Regardless of the circumstances, I was fairly elected and therefore I am legally mayor, more than I can say for any of you. If you want to challenge that, you can easily call for a recall vote," Regina said and there was that deliciously devilish glint in her eye. The Council looked like they would have backed up if they were not seated.

_Dear lord, I wanna fuck her against the damn podium, audience be damned_. Emma pictured Regina pressing against her throat as she drove into her and then shook that away. It was hot as hell when Regina did that, but she really did not need that on her mind right now. _Focus_. It was almost impossible, though, because Regina was so fucking hot when she was dominating space like this.

Emma always knew something was wrong with her, but she had felt like Regina brought out all of the right crazy. Taking a breath, Emma tried to watch the show without thinking about how turned on it made her when Regina got all controlling. _Hmm, does that make me a little queer? Alphas shouldn't want to be dominated like omegas, by omegas_.

"You think we won't?" Dawn continued with a scowl and a daring arched eyebrow.

Regina scoffed, folding her arms across her stomach. "Oh, I hope you do. Imagine the message it would send. The omegas in town in positions of power or just outside of where you think an omega should be would be in danger of losing their jobs by virtue of being an omega. How many people do you think will stand for that? How many omegas do you think there are in town?"

Emma wondered if Regina had a point. Would this start something for the omegas in town? If it did start something, would the omegas rise to the occasion or cower away? She hoped more omegas were like Regina and willing to stand up for what was theirs.

"This isn't about you being an omega," Dawn replied. Did anyone actually believe that nonsense?

Regina chuckled. "Really? The timing is quite convenient, coming literally hours after an article reminding the world of my status. Now, I'm suddenly unfit for the job. Unless, of course, you were planning to do this yesterday and the wonderful weather stopped you, as it tends to do. Well, wonderful weather and monsters in the street."

Someone other than the duchess finally spoke. A stuffy lord named Kay who cleared his throat, making sure to puff out his big chest while he was at it. Emma rolled her eyes. Alpha posturing never failed to disgust her. "This has nothing to do with your status. It's clear your role as mayor has been compromised."

Emma's brow furrowed. What the hell did that mean? How had Regina been compromised? If anything, she did more than her position required, like pointing out yesterday there were monsters on the street. They had a bunch of chimeras wandering about the town thanks to damn Whale and Regina helped wrangle them. There was no reason for her to do so, but she was out there, like she was whenever things got dangerous. They did not even want to get into when there was a Hell Mouth in the park and freaking Titans tearing up the joint.

"Okay, well, obviously you've done research the rest of us haven't. Care to share with the rest of the class?' Regina asked. Snow quickly hid a smile behind her hand. David outright laughed and earned glares from the rest of the Council. He shrugged.

"Your relationship with the sheriff has compromised both of you," he said.

"Yet you haven't asked for the sheriff's resignation. I imagine it would look very ridiculous for you to do so after she's broken the Curse and being the savior and all. But, really, how has the relationship compromised me? I've gone from a bitch on wheels to downright pleasant," Regina replied.

"Uh, _pleasant_ might be a strong word," David remarked.

"Pleasant enough to face down actual Titans emerging from Tartarus while everyone else hid behind whatever cover they could find not too long ago. Pleasant enough to stop Whale's damn chimeras. But, yes, I've been compromised." Regina pressed her fingertips together. "Maybe that's the problem. I've been downright pleasant."

"Oh, yes!" Zelena giggled and clapped her hands. "Give the word, sister, and we can burn this wretched town to the ground!"

Maleficent appeared right next to Zelena at that very moment. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down. You are way too hyped right now." Her vocabulary seemed to be influenced by Lily now. She put her hands on Zelena's shoulders.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Emma said. "Nothing said here was a suggestion." She turned her attention to her mate. "Right?"

Regina's smile was very Evil Queenesque and Emma was definitely going to have to think unsexy thoughts or embarrass herself here. _Give me strength_. But, then again, would anyone really blame her for pitching in tent in her pants with her mate looking like she did? The confidence radiating off of Regina kept Emma calm for the most part and made her confident.

Regina stared down the Council, even though they were above her. "I like to think of it as a reminder of when I'm less pleasant. Again, if you want to get rid of me, by all means, I encourage you to hold a recall election. You are well within your Council rights. Just remember, I hold a grudge for a long time and I'm a sore loser."

"You think you can threaten us?" Lord Kay practically bellowed at her, like an alpha scolding a disobedient omega.

_No one can talk to my mate like that!_ Emma growled and moved closer to Regina, but then stopped herself. No, she would not be that sort of alpha. Someone was challenging Regina and Regina could handle it. Taking a breath, Emma stayed where she was. Regina did not even bat an eye.

"What threat? Again, it's only a reminder. Beyond that, common sense. Tell me, what possible motive do I have the next time a Hell Mouth opens up in the park to do anything beyond watch and laugh? It might be a good time to make s'mores with my niece and future brother-in-law. As mayor of the town, I believe I have a duty to protect it. As stay-at-home tía, I think I have a duty to make hot chocolate," Regina said.

"Can I also be a stay-at-home auntie? I want hot chocolate," Emma said. In fact, she would love to hang out with Regina, Robbie, and the Little Guy while having said hot chocolate. That sounded way better than being the savior, especially if Regina would not be by her side for that.

"I also want hot chocolate," Zelena said.

Regina let loose a low growl and glared at Emma from the corner of her eye. "There's hot chocolate at home. You're both sort of ruining my flow."

"Let's all be honest, your flow ruined itself at making s'mores. How are we supposed to feel pressured by that?" Maleficent asked.

Emma put her hand on her chest. "I was completely with you through that moment, but because I want s'mores with my hot chocolate."

Regina snarled. "You three are literally the worst evil wingmen in the world. I'm trying to be intimidating here. It was a lot easier when I didn't have a cheerleader section."

"What? I'm totally cowed here," Emma replied. To the point where she was actively fighting down an erection. _Regina turned me into a bottom. How the hell did that happen? _

"You don't really expect us to believe you'd leave all that work to the sheriff, would you? Your mate?" Dawn chimed in, glaring down at Regina through her glasses.

Regina scoffed and glanced down at her nails for a moment. "I don't know. I mean, now that the world knows I'm an omega again, I think I need to stay at home. Can't be out there showing up our alpha sheriff now, can I?"

"Does this mean I could go back to being a terror on Main Street?" Zelena asked.

"You wanna get banned from _Granny's_ again?" Emma countered. To this day, Zelena still needed an escort into the diner or else.

Regina waved her hand and Emma found herself outside with Zelena on the sidewalk in front of the Town Hall. Emma threw her hands up. Zelena's face practically hit the sidewalk.

"Did she really just poof us out of the goddamn meeting?" Emma let loose a frustrated groan. "That is so her!"

"I understand getting rid of you, but to remove me? I could help her burn the whole thing down!" Zelena stomped her foot.

"She's not going to burn anything…" Or so Emma hoped.

"How else do you think she'll get those fools to bow down and obey her demands? She's an omega! They're going to try to lord over her until heads roll. It'll be glorious!" Zelena's eyes glimmered.

Emma cocked an eyebrow. "Have you just been pretending to be sane? Or, well, less insane, but equally as annoying?"

With a scoff, Zelena threw her head to the side. "I'm merely trying to support my baby sister as she has been supportive of me. If she wants to burn things down, why not do it together?"

Emma shook her head. "Something's wrong with me, as that almost makes sense." Burning things probably would have been a way for an insane Regina and a mad Zelena to bond.

Zelena smirked. "I guess we're rubbing off on you, Sheriff."

Emma groaned and marched back to the Town Hall building only to find the doors locked. Of course. Of course. Not like her mate to do anything half-assed. _You've been thinking about her as your mate a lot. Well, that's what she is. Yeah, but it sounds like alpha bullshit, even in your head_.

"Regina, open this damn door!" Emma doubted that would work, but she had to try something.

"Maybe use your magic, sweetie. You do have that," Zelena said. Yes, it was helpful, but it was also to remind Emma she was an idiot.

"Just so you know, I will shoot you out here where she can't see and then just say you were playing with the gun," Emma replied. "One of us is going to be doubly hurt after she believes me." _Okay, dude, that was just mean_.

It was nice to see Zelena's eyes remained as predatory as always rather than the hurt Emma expected to see from her comment. Zelena was a little more secure in herself and her relationship with Regina. Hopefully, this little moment with Regina coming out as an omega helped, too. Before, they could do any more bantering, the doors to Town Hall blew off. Emma was knocked back and put her arm up to her head to block any flying debris. Just from Zelena's cackling, she knew this was Regina's showboating.

"Really? The doors?" Emma motioned to the splintered wood. And she was halfway on her way to a hard-on again. It was unavoidable.

"Don't tell me how to make an exit when you can barely do your god awful one-liners," Regina replied from the veranda, standing next to Zelena. Emma clutched her chest, properly wounded.

"No fire?" Zelena scoffed.

"You can't please everyone," Regina said and then she vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

"I'm so fucking her tonight," Emma muttered and could not have been more pleased with herself when Zelena groaned in disgust. _Nailed it_.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina could not help cooking a big meal and, thankfully, more than immediate family showed up to help eat it. They seemed to think she would need the support. She was not sure why that was. She thought things went pretty well.

"Sorry we couldn't get them to not do the recall," Snow said as she eased up to the dining room table. Regina busied herself by putting Little Guy in his high chair. Emma mirrored her actions with Robbie. The toddlers were next to each other and reaching out for each other, probably to slap each other, as that was their new hobby.

Regina shook her head. "I actually would like them to do so. It'll help me understand where I stand in this town and what my next steps are." She could decide if the town was worth fighting for or if she should focus all of her energy on her family. She also wanted to see if it would have an impact on how omegas were treated in Storybrooke.

Maleficent waved that off. "I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, no one wants you running around with me and Zelena with nothing but time on your hands."

"Oh, no, you might steal a cop car and other teenage shenanigans," Emma replied with a deadpan expression.

"I love that you think those were my ideas. I'm much more a turn-into-a-dragon and set fire to the streets kinda gal," Maleficent replied.

Lily nodded. "Now that is some alpha level destruction I can get behind. Will we also be eating a few townies?"

Maleficent shrugged. "Why not? It's not like Regina will care, as long as none of them are loyal to her. We'll stop when the sheriff shows up." She gave Emma a wink.

Regina doubted they would do any such thing, but she would have to talk to Emma about it, as she knew Emma was suspicious of both mother and daughter for different reasons. Still, they sat around the table and had dinner like a civilized family, minus a few members. Granny, Ruby, and Dorothy had not arrived yet because of the short notice, but claimed they would be there later tonight.

"Do you think you'll get reelected in the recall?" Henry asked as he piled fried chicken on his plate.

"I should hope so. I've only saved this miserable town three times from certain doom since my curse broke and only cursed it once. I like to think I'm ahead," Regina replied. Those were only major victories. She was not even counting small things, like the Chernabog.

"I hope that's not what you're running on," Emma said with a snicker as she moved and grabbed a plate.

Regina shook her head. "Of course not. Just a reminder I have no obligation to this town or these people if I'm not the mayor. I don't owe them anything." She placed Robbie's food down and then placed Little Guy's food down. They ate for now, but the second one of them was done, the other would be the target of leftover food.

Henry chuckled. "I think we'll clean that up, but still get the basic idea out to people."

Regina knew she already had a campaign manager in Henry, and probably Snow. It did not matter to her. Hopefully, it would distract Snow from trying to plan the wedding. _Oh, right, I am getting married_. She looked over at Emma and her heart fluttered. Emma would probably always be the best decision she ever made.

The night went rather well for a family gathering, even though Regina noticed Emma watching her whenever she was not close. It was obvious she wanted to talk. Regina did not mind, even though there was nothing to say for her. Life was perfect. _Well, hell, I'll probably lose the recall election_. And that would be if she was lucky.

Life had never been perfect for Regina. There were hardly perfect moments in her long life. She knew perfection could not last, but she also felt like it was an omen. As she sat at the vanity, going through her nighttime ritual, she watched Emma through the mirror. What if everything came crashing down and Emma was the victim of her folly?

"What are you thinking about over there?" Emma asked.

"How much I love you," Regina replied honestly.

Emma smiled. "I love you, too, but I also know you weren't thinking about that. Come on, babe. Tell me what's wrong." She got up and walked over to Regina with her usually, odd swagger. It was strange for someone so clumsy and often insecure to also be so confident in herself.

"It's nothing for you to worry about."

Emma leaned down and placed a very wet kiss to her mark. Sparks blazed through Regina. Mixed with the smell of Emma, Regina folded like a lawn chair.

"I'm scared," Regina's voice was small, young, trembling.

"Of what? Losing the recall? You'll kick ass in that like everything else. If it's about people treating you different because you're an omega, you'll show them that doesn't mean a damn thing."

"No, I'm not scared of either of those things. It's you. Losing you, this, us. Family."

Emma kissed her again. "You can't lose us, Regina. You know that. And, if you're scared of losing us in the way you lost Daniel, you shouldn't. We both know life sucks a lot of the time and we've got a good thing here, which means life is waiting for the right moment to screw us. Don't worry over it coming. Enjoy what we have." It was amazing how Emma's thought process was similar to her own when it came to good things.

"This is very true."

"But, life can screw anyone at any moment."

That was not a lie, but it did not help all things considered. "We seem to be fan favorites."

Emma chuckled. "I think I'm rubbing off on you. It's okay. We both know you have to live in the now. You can't worry about the future or you'll be scared or angry the whole time. We both know that."

That was not wrong, but it was not very comforting either. Regina was not sure what would happen if she lost any piece of this. Having been driven insane once, she did not think she would go there. This would be crippling, like when she lost Henry and Emma after Pan's Curse. Before she wandered further down that road, Emma lifted her up, showing off those delicious muscles again.

"Lemme take care of you, write this memory in your heart, and let it keep you if something does happen," Emma said.

"Who's rubbing off on whom?" Regina was not sure where the little romantic side of Emma came from, but she would take it.

Emma only smiled and kissed Regina on the lips as she eased Regina into their bed. The kissing was slow, leisurely, like they had all the time in the world. Doom was not imminent. Love was right now. Their love would last long after they did, through the existence of Henry, and maybe more one day.

Feeling the press of Emma's body to hers kept her in the moment. The warmth of her skin was like being blanketed in affection and safety. Inhaling Emma's scent was like taking her in, holding her close, and filling Regina. It was a rush and made her burn for Emma.

Regina's hands lost themselves in Emma's hair while Emma's hand busied themselves under Regina's nightgown. Emma's hands on her anchored her in time, settled her soul, as only Emma could. And then, Emma's lips went to her mark and Regina was certain she melted into a puddle and flew off into the atmosphere at the same time. Regina starved for Emma like her body needed oxygen.

"Please, Emma. Please," Regina panted, body ablaze with desire, craving Emma well beyond the physical.

Emma continued to caress her sides and breasts. It was so gentle, soft that it brought tears to Regina's eyes. It was like Emma worshipped her with her hands. Regina always felt cared for by Emma, but right now, her touch screamed reverence in ways Regina had never experienced before. She was precious to Emma. Regina could feel the tears slide down her face.

Emma pulled away just enough to look at her. "You okay?"

"More than okay. I love you so much," Regina replied. It felt like the only thing she could say to explain her reaction. She loved Emma like no other and was certain Emma loved her just the same. She never imagined such a thing could be possible after the death of Daniel, but there Emma was.

Emma grinned, eyes shining and dived back into her work, lapping at Regina's mark. Regina cooed as it felt like Emma seeped into her through each touch of her hands, lips, and tongue. If this went on any longer, she thought she might use Emma up and they would become one person. Yet, as it went on, Emma did not seem drained at all. In fact, her lips and tongue seemed to gain energy with each touch to her mark.

"I'll always be with you," Emma said as she flicked Regina's nipple, earning a whine from Regina as pleasure buzzed through her.

Eventually, Emma sat up and tossed off her tank top and wiggled out of her shorts. She did not give Regina much of a chance to take in her beautiful form as she went back in for a kiss, easing her tongue into Regina's mouth.

Regina purred as Emma reached between her legs and caressed her just right. This was not electric, as their intimacy could be, but more an ongoing summer storm, slowly, softly building up inside of her. There were more tears, which turned into a sob when Emma eased inside with one and then two fingers, adding to the storm. Emma swallowed the sound and stroked Regina at a wonderfully slow pace.

Each move felt like it filled Regina in ways she could not imagine, like somehow adding to her, as if she might burst apart at the seams. She could not think straight, only feel and feel and feel, like there was only Emma and nothing more. The ebb and flow of Emma's fingers pumping, pushing, twisting and turning, putting her together only to eventually take her apart.

Despite all of this, or maybe because of this, Regina's orgasm crept up on her. Even though it was massive in a sense that she felt everything about her was torn asunder in the best of ways and come together at the same time, she came with a quiet coo, breaking their mouths apart. It was like the force of Emma took her breath away and she could not make any more noise than she did as her body rocked with pleasure.

Emma did not miss a beat, lips drifting to her mating mark and sucking. Regina's coo became a whine as electricity burst through her, bright lights dancing before her eyes. It was like she had flew from her body, drifted into a star, and might never return. She was now part of the cosmos, part of something vast and beautiful thanks to Emma. Maybe she would not need to return to her body, living the rest of her life as an entity, existing in only their emotions.

But, all too soon, she returned as Emma eased out of her only to feel something more substantial poking her. She knew Emma needed a sign, so she rolled her hips, begging for more. Emma obliged, sliding herself through Regina's passion, nudging her clit. She cried out, clutching onto Emma's shoulders, trying to pull her closer, trying to link them. Emma smiled, kissed her cheek, and lined herself up.

The absolute bliss that shot through Regina as Emma eased inside made Regina croon and it felt like all of her nerves short-circuited. Emma panted against her neck, tongue darting out, tasting Regina, lapping at her mating mark. It might as well had been a pleasure button, as each touch of Emma's tongue poured more and more ecstasy and emotion into Regina.

"Yes, Emma!" Regina sighed, throwing her head back as Emma snapped her hips. Regina's legs fell open wider on their own.

Though the rock of Emma's hips was powerful, her pace was as before, slow and steady. Those damn tears were back, stinging Regina's eyes as she felt something so much more than she thought possible. She clutched Emma around the shoulders, trying to pull her closer. Emma held herself up on her elbows, but lowered herself enough for Regina to kiss her. Being able to kiss Emma's neck and chest sent a spark through Regina, like a burst of fireworks, but working their way to something so much more grandiose.

Emma added a little more to her strokes, going deeper, and Regina moaned. She put a hand to Emma's neck, which got even more from Emma. A little pressure and now Emma was hammering away at her and Regina felt like she was about to tear out of her body again. A finger brushed against her mark and that was more than enough to send her over the edge. If her first orgasm crept up on her, this one swallowed her whole and drowned her in affection and joy. She simply became part of this sea of pleasure, caught in an undertow that was Emma.

Before Regina realized what she was doing, instead of falling back, she launched forward and sank her teeth into Emma. Emma let out a roar and collapsed on top of her. She did not mind the weight at all. She hugged Emma to her.

"Uh… I think you marked me," Emma whispered, face buried in Regina's neck.

Regina could feel a hot blush running through her. "I'm sorry."

"Why should you be sorry? I've wanted you to do it for a while now. What made you do it?"

"The same thing that made you do it. I just felt so much." She still felt a buzz in her blood and down every nerve. Was that this new connection to Emma, already humming to life?

Emma nodded, but did not say anything else. She kissed Regina's neck until Regina turned her head and they spent what felt like hours simply kissing. She was not sure when Emma's knot went down, but was disappointed when Emma pulled out. Emma gave her a sweet peck on the lips.

"It's okay. Can you just make sure the mark stays?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded and shifted, seeing where her mark was for the first time. It was right below Emma's collarbone, close to her heart. Regina kissed around it before kissing it directly. Emma moaned and shivered beneath her.

"Oh, god. I didn't expect it to feel like that," Emma said in a breath.

Regina smiled to herself as she continued giving attention to Emma's mark. She could have sworn she felt peace from Emma seeping into her. It made her drowsy and she was not sure when she fell asleep. She woke up while it was still dark with Emma's arms around her and her head cradled between Emma's breasts. She pulled the sheet over both of them.

"Love you," Emma said.

Regina was not sure if Emma was talking in her sleep or not, but responded anyway. "I love you, too." No matter how things went, they loved each other. They had each other. They had this family. The future was always uncertain, but their feelings were not. They were mates and they were to be married. That was more than enough.

-8-8-8-8-

A month later, right before the recall election day, a harpy escaped from the zoo. Regina and Emma took a while to spring into action, more concerned about a cake tasting appointing. Zoo officials could not wrangle the creature while Regina barely had to snap her fingers when she finally showed up. Regina won by a landslide.

"I like to think my brilliant campaign had something to do with it," Henry said at the celebration dinner. Honestly, he ran a good campaign and almost single-handedly mobilized the omegas in town to not only vote for Regina, but make sure it was understood they would not stand for being fired, replaced, or pushed into the background because of their status. His mothers could not be prouder.

-8-8-8-8-

The End.

Thanks for reading. Come say hi to me on Facebook if you want, under the name S. L. Kassidy. I hope you enjoyed this piece of the Who We Are series. I think there'll be one more story in this universe. Back to my padded cell with me. If you like my work, please go check out my books on Amazon under the name S. L. Kassidy. Thanks again.


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